By Brad Heineman
MASON — The Madison Trojans are on a mission. It’s such an important mission that even perennial state competitive cheerleading power Hudson could not get in the way of the Lady Trojans during Saturday’s regional championship event at Mason High School.
In record-breaking fashion, Madison took home its first-ever regional competitive cheerleading championship in program history by earning the top overall score in Division-4 cheering, a 749.64, which outpaced the Hudson Tigers’ second-place score of 746.26.
The Trojans’ score was a season-high for the blue-and-gold. Last season, Madison advanced from the regionals and went on to the state meet, finishing in third place. In 2018, they made it a return trip to the state finals, but this year they move on as the regional tournament champs.
Madison got out to a first-round lead of 229.30 to Hudson’s 226.80, and the Trojans never looked back from then on. They led by more than four points after rounds one and two, but Hudson was able to slice into the edge a smidgen in the third round. Still, it was Madison that did not falter after grabbing the early lead and they walked away from the Mason gymnasium with a closely contested regional title.
Just like the district competition, the top four scoring teams from the regional bracket advance on to the state finals at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Delta Plex Arena, Grand Rapids.
The Blissfield Royals, who were back-to-back Class C runners up in 1996 and 1997, will not get an opportunity to cheer for their first state championship in over 20 years, after finishing with the 11th best score of the Mason Regionals.
The Royals, who advanced to the regionals for the first time in close to eight years, ended Saturday’s tournament with a score of 647.10.
For all the details on local regional cheer action for Madison and Blissfield, please pick up a copy of the Feb. 28, 2018, edition of The ADVANCE. To subscribe, please call 517-486-2400. The ADVANCE could be in your mailbox weekly with just a quick phone call!