By John Raffel
It’s never easy being a defending state champion.
But Breckenridge is defending a Division 4 state championship in competitive cheer and confident in a bid for another title.
Coaches this season for Breckenridge are Deb Gaines and Jenna Graham. The Huskies’ roster consists of Anyssa Betancourt, Justine Brabaw, Megan Carter, Amiah Cole, Carmen Collins, Dakota Colthorp, Harley Conklin, Kasey Conn, Kaitlyn Corson, Lena Crowell, Alexandra Gillis, Paige Guthrie, Alicia Gutierrez, Olivia Mayle, Katie Mortensen, Lindsey Reichard, Emma Rohde and Madison Smith.
The seniors are Brabaw, Colthorp, Corson, Guthrie, Gutierrez, Mortensen and Reichard; all seven were on the 2015 state championship team.
“We’re busy trying to tighten everything down, just like everybody else is,” Gaines said, prior to the districts. “We had a little setback a couple of weeks ago when one of our main starters was ill, so we’ve had to redo some roundwork. It’s pulled back together just fine.”
Breckenridge won the TVC West Conference title this winter.
“We were unable to go to the overall league championship because we had the illness that weekend and were unable to attend,” Gaines said. “We did win that and they’ve been strong every week they’ve been out. They’ve been first everywhere they’ve gone. It’s been a good season for them.”
She noted that this team is potentially good enough to win another state championship.
“We picked up three freshmen that came onto the roster and have contributed in a nice way,” Gaines said. “We added a little more depth.”
She also indicated that her team has been solid in all three rounds so far.
“Our skill rounds are Round 2, right now, and is our most solid, especially with the changes we’ve had to make recently,” Gaines said. “I’m guessing the other two will follow in weeks to come.”
She’s expecting other tough opponents at the state meet to also be at regionals with teams like Michigan Center, which had won the state title four years prior to Breckenridge’s 2015 win. Hudson and Pewamo-Westphalia are other possible state contenders.
“We just have to keep getting better and keep fine tuning all the areas where we look at the score sheet, and we aren’t quite where we want them to be,” Gaines said. “We address them and keep paying attention to them every week and hopefully hit all the areas we want to hit.”
Gaines has coached for more than 30 years. Her teams have won eight overall state titles.