By Scott Salowich

When it comes to cheers, everybody knows the Jack Pine Conference’s name.

The Division 4 state competitive cheerleading finals at the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids featured three entries from the league.

Meridian led the local charge, placing fourth with a total of 737.80 points. Houghton Lake was just behind in fifth place with 734.88 and Farwell placed eighth with 711.88.

Breckenridge won with 767.68. Michigan Center was second with 754.12 and Merrill barely edged the Mustangs to place third with 738.70.

“At the state finals, my team performed phenomenal,” said Meridian coach Val MacKenzie. “They had the best scores of the whole season and we had an awesome season. My girls improved with each competition. They were a very dedicated and determined team.”

MacKenzie has been coaching the Mustangs for 22 years and led the way to states for the fourth time.

“This is the best team I’ve had in a few years,” she said. “These girls worked hard for perfection and never gave up. I am so very proud of what this team accomplised this year.”

The local squads qualified by cracking the top four at the regional at Sparta. Meridian won the championship with 721.92, just ahead of the Bobcats with 721.52. Shelby was third with 709.28 and Farwell took fourth with 704.36.

Houghton Lake had the upper hand at the district event, placing first with 726.72. Meridian was second with 703.50 and Farwell third with 700.22.

“It was an exciting season with three Jack Pine teams doing so well all year,” said Houghton Lake coach Celeste Kubiak. “Our girls did a wonderful job at states. We were so excited to be back for our third consecutive year and the girls performed all three rounds with skill and excitement and earned our highest state finals score.”

Farwell’s trip to the finals was the first in school history. 

No Farwell team has ever made it past districts, so for this team to make it all the way to the state finals was a huge accomplishment,” said Eagles coach Taylor Bryant. “That was our goal from the beginning of the season and being there against the best of the best was just amazing.

We were the only non-ranked team to make it and nerves and jitters got the best of us a few times in the routines, but the girls cheered their hearts out and gave it their all.

Farwell cheer is now on the map and we will continue to build and build. It will be hard to replace the love and drive of this team, but we are a family and they have started something grand here at Farwell.”