Hart’s competitive cheer team added a Division 4 district championship Friday night to the West Michigan Conference title on its resume.
Hart is not finished yet. The Pirates are looking for more, and next up is the regional at Grand Rapids Northview on Feb. 25. Hart will be joined at the Division 4 regional next Saturday by conference opponent Mason County Central, which finished runner-up in its district Friday at East Jordan.
Hart dominated in the district at Marion, where the Pirates piled up 744.93 total points to beat second-place Pewamo-Westphalia (708.58) by more than 36 points. Marion (688.36) and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian (671.88) placed third and fourth, respectively.
“The girls came out on fire from the get-go. We had a solid Round 1 and we just got better and better in Rounds 2 and 3,” Hart coach Jen Hlady said. “I really couldn’t ask for much more out of these girls. They did everything we’ve been working on this week and I am so proud of each and every one.”
Hart had 223.8 points in Round 1, 214.84 points in Round 2 and 306.29 in Round 3.
Shelby finished eighth in the Marion district with 593.3 points, while North Muskegon was 10th (586.3).
At East Jordan, Mason County Central totaled 731.22 points to take second place behind Gladstone (758.68). Munising (712.14) and Houghton Lake (708.7) were third and fourth, respectively.
“We have been working on amping up our vocals all week and it proved to be very lucrative for us,” Mason County Central coach Cheri Stibitz said. “We added a harder skill in Round 2 a few weeks back and it finally hit last night.
“We are excited to see what we can do (next) Saturday after a full week of uninterrupted practice.”
The top four teams in each district advance to the regional, and the top four squads at the regional qualify for the state finals.
The state finals used to be held at the Delta Plex in Grand Rapids, but this season they’re Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena on March 2-3.
