Courtney Schiller makes it very clear what her goals are for Merrill in competitive cheer Division 4 competition this season: better than a fourth-place finish in the state finals.
Merrill was fourth last season and could make a stronger run this year.
“Our team has had a very strong season,” Schiller said. “We have finished first or second in all of our competitions. The only team that we have finished second to this year is Ovid-Elsie, a talented Division 3 team, who we compete against in our conference.”
Highlights this season have included Merrill breaking its own school records for round 1 score and total score and finishing first at the Breckenridge Invitational against tough Division 4 opponents.
“Our goals going into the postseason tournaments are to win a district title, a regional title, and to improve on our fourth-place finish at last year’s state finals,” Schiller said. “The teams we are looking forward to competing against are Michigan Center and Hart. Their scores are very comparable to ours, and they are very strong teams. They will definitely challenge us.”
Merrill has overcome various obstacles en route to a strong season this year.
“Our team is fairly young: four freshmen, one sophomore, and three juniors,” Schiller said. “They have continued to exceed our goals and expectations, and we are very excited to see what they can accomplish in their tournament competition.”
In Division 1, Rockford coach Renne Dengler has been happy the way her team has been performing.
“We have been getting better at every single competition, and that is exactly what your program should be doing during the season,” Dengler said. “We are peaking at the right time of the year.
“We hit three solid rounds at the Delta Plex and that was really exciting to see. It was the first time we had judges from the east side, and I felt their scores did not match the performance we gave that day, but our team really did have three great rounds and I was proud of that. That was a goal for our team, to hit three solid rounds, and we did.
“My goal for my athletes would be for them to be able to look back at this season and have no regrets. I want them to be able to look back and know they worked really hard, they learned a lot, and they had fun while doing it all.”
Division 1 includes some solid teams statewide, Dengler indicated. “Solid programs have always been Rochester, Hudsonville, Hartland, East Kentwood, Stoney Creek, Southgate, and Grandville,” she said. “Our program continues to amaze me every year. We didn’t have a very large roster this year on varsity. We had 18 girls on the team, and one was out with mono the entire season, which left us with one alternate athlete for rounds one and three. These girls put their hearts into every single competition.”
State finals: March 1-2 at Delta Plex, Grand Rapids
Teams to watch:
Division 1: Hartland. Southgate Anderson, Hudsonville
Division 2: Gibraltar Carlson, Divine Child Catholic, Allen Park
Division 3: Notre Dame Prep, Richmond, Comstock Park, Ovid-Elsie
Division 4: Michigan Center, Merrill, Pewamo-Westphalia