Ferndale Hosts, Competes in Cheerleading Invitational

Hear any clapping on Saturday afternoon? Ferndale residents anywhere near the high school might have.

The Eagles hosted and competed in a varsity cheerleading competition Saturday afternoon that featured fifteen local schools. The squads competed across three divisions and the top two teams in each one were awarded trophies.

Ferndale grabbed some of that gold in Division Two. A strong finish allowed the girls to overtake Romulus for second place (648.8816 points).

“It was wonderful,” Ferndale Coach April McGhee said of the tournament. “It was a long time coming, a lot of planning and I’m so glad it’s here. Everyone told me it ran smoothly and very efficiently. I’m so proud of my girls who got second place.”

McGhee took over the team in 2008 and this was her first tournament as head coach of the cheerleading team. If there’s enough interest from local schools, the tournament will now be an annual fixture on the schedule.

All the schools competed in three rounds and the routines in each round had a different focus. The girls had to have two jumps in the first round, the second round score was based on how the squads performed in unison and the third round was the stunt round.

The big winner on Saturday was Notre Dame Prep. The school had the best scores in all three individual rounds. They ended the invitational with first place finishes in Division Three and Four, which were combined. and had the best overall score with 730.0938 points.

Ladywood came in second in that division and with a score good enough for third overall (684.4084).

Riverview beat Ferndale by 50 points (698.6028) in Division Two for first place. In Division One, Royal Oak came in first (656.5032) and Sterling Heights came in second (608.7816).

Three judges graded the teams based on things like difficulty, vocals, floor mobility, team coordination, execution and general impression. The first two rounds were 90 seconds each and the third round was two and a half minutes.

Ferndale put itself in a good position with a solid opening round score. The girls had 197.8 points and opened the event in second place.

In the second round the Eagles fell two points behind Romulus (387.246 to 389.3952), but in the third round they outscored the Eagles by 10 points. The judges awarded Romulus more points for choreography, but Ferndale had better scores in floor mobility, vocals, team coordination and general impression.

“They did their best and tried really hard,” McGhee said. “That’s all I ever ask of them.”