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COMPETITIVE CHEER: Rochester remains perfect in winning district crown

Dan Stickradt | February 20, 2016 | Comments (0)

Stoney Creek, Troy Athens, Rochester

Adams also advance to regional round

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

TROY — In the midst of a perfect season, the pressure on top-ranked Rochester is starting to mount.

And while the Falcons were not perfect Saturday afternoon at Troy Athens, site of a Division 1 district competition, Rochester remained atop the pyramid with a three-round total of 789.84.

The Falcons won two of the three rounds and finished second in the other to outdistance themselves from the rest of the 14-school field. Rochester Stoney Creek (783.76), Troy Athens (781.9) and Rochester Adams (779.42) took the next three slots, as the top four teams from each district advance to the regional round Feb. 26-27 at sites across the state.

“I tell you what, the pressure is building,” admitted veteran Rochester coach Susan Wood, who has guided the Falcons since 1982. “We were perfect with nine wins at competitions in the regular season. And while it prepares you for this stage, it doesn’t make a difference how well you did in the regular season if you don’t perform well at the district, regional or state finals. Not when there are a lot of good teams out there (can you have a bad day in the state tournament). As a coach I have been on both sides.

“I thought we did a good job today. We can get better, tighten up some things in Round II and make our Round III cleaner. We are getting there,” continued Wood. “But you only have a couple of minutes on the mat. The pressure is there with the nerves being the (state tournament).”

The top four teams from the Athens district will join eight others schools at the Chippewa Valley regional with the top four finishers at each regional advancing to the state finals.

Livonia Stevenson was the first team left on the outside looking in at the district round, as the Spartans suffered some deductions in Round III to finish fifth at 769.92. Utica Eisenhower (767.32), Troy (764.38), Utica (726.36), West Bloomfield (718.52), Livonia Franklin (701.94), Warren Mott (666.32), Birmingham Seaholm (664.76),

Bloomfield Hills (652.00) and Oak Park (607.60) rounded out the team scoring.

Rochester captured the first round with 237.8 points, finished second in the second round (231.14) and won the final round with a 320.9 total to clinch the school’s seventh district title in eight years.

The last time the Falcons were perfect this late in the season was 2009, coincidently the last year they won a state championship.

“It was a similar situation,” noted Wood. “But we didn’t let the pressure get to us that year. We’ve had years where we scored well all season and then had a bad round at the regional. It happened in 2011 and 2014. That is something that we need to concentrate on next week at the regional. There will be six really good teams there that are state finals worthy and only four will make it. You have to have three really good rounds. You can’t have any glaring mistakes.”

Stoney Creek, a perennial state power team, posted scores of 235.9 (second), 231.56 (first) and 316.3 (fourth) to grab second overall and to make the cut for the regional.

“You have to go out there with the mentality that you could win it. If you don’t, then you might not score enough to advance,” said Stoney Creek coach Trisha Williams. “We’re in a great place (mentally) right now. We have consistently scored well all season and now we finished second today to advance. Now we must concentrate and work hard for the next round,” continued Williams. “We work hard to try to get better every single day because now we have the regional doing up and there will be six really good teams there and only four will make it to the state finals. We don’t want to be one of those teams that just misses. You have to keep getting better and believe that you can win.”

Athens registered totals of 234.9 (third), 228.60 (fifth) and 318.4 (second) to grab the third qualifying spot.

“I think, realistically, you are just trying to survive to move onto the next round,” said Athens coach Stephanie Brodsky. “Every team has really high goals. Every team wants to get to the state finals. But you can’t get to the state finals if you don’t do well at the district and regionals. So for my team, at this stage of the season, it’s all about taking it one day at a time. I thought we did well today.”

Adams came on strong to collect scores of 233.2 (fifth), 228.72 (fourth) and 317.5 (third) and place in the fourth slot overall.

Members of the OAA Red Division took the top four slots in the district, again signaling to be one of the state’s toughest conferences.

DIVISION 1 DISTRICT NO. 4

(Feb. 20 at Troy Athens)

TEAM SCORES — 1. Rochester, 789.84; 2. Rochester Stoney Creek, 783.76; 3. Troy Athens, 781.9; 4. Rochester Adams, 779.42; 5. Livonia Stevenson, 769.92; 6. Utica Eisenhower, 767.32; 7. Troy, 764.38; 8. Utica, 726.36; 9. West Bloomfield, 718.52; 10. Livonia Franklin, 701.94; 11. Warren Mott, 666.32; 12. Birmingham Seaholm, 664.76;

13. Bloomfield Hills, 652.00; 14. Oak Park, 607.60.

ROUND I — 1. Rochester, 237.8; 2. Rochester Stoney Creek, 235.9; 3. Troy Athens, 234.9; 4. Livonia Stevenson, 233.7; 5. Rochester Adams, 233.2; 6. Utica Eisenhower, 231.9; 7. Troy, 231.2; 8. Utica, 226.3; 9. West Bloomfield, 221.7; 10. Livonia Franklin, 221.5; 11. Birmingham Seaholm, 218.7; 12. Bloomfield Hills, 217.4; 13. Oak Park, 212.3; 14. Warren Mott, 211.3.

ROUND II — 1. Rochester Stoney Creek, 231.56; 2. Rochester, 231.14; 3. Livonia Stevenson, 229.62; 4. Rochester Adams, 228.72; 5. Troy Athens, 228.60; 6. Utica Eisenhower, 221.32; 7. Troy, 219.48; 8. Utica, 205.56; 9. West Bloomfield, 203.42; 10. Livonia Franklin, 202.24; 11. Birmingham Seaholm, 187.26; 12. Warren Mott, 182.12; 13. Bloomfield Hills, 178.4; 14. Oak Park, 176.4.

ROUND III — 1. Rochester, 320.9; 2. Troy Athens, 318.4; 3. Rochester Adams, 317.5; 4. Rochester Stoney Creek, 316.3; 5. Utica Eisenhower, 314.1; 6. Troy, 313.7; 7. Livonia Stevenson, 306.6; 8. Utica, 294.5; 9. West Bloomfield, 293.4; 10. Livonia Franklin, 278.2; 11. Warren Mott, 272.9; 12. Birmingham Seaholm, 258.8; 13. Bloomfield Hills, 256.2; 14. Oak Park, 218.9.