Falcon Cheer Team Places At Districts

I'm not sure who was louder, the cheer team or the parents and fans in the stands, when the judges announced a second place finish overall for the Farmington High School Competitive Cheer team at the MHSAA Division 2 District Cheer Competition held at Warren Woods High School Friday night.

This was a special night. For the first time since Competitive Cheer became a varsity sport at Farmington High School, the team placed at district competition and is headed to the MHSAA Regional Finals that will be held at the Ortonville Brandon High School on Feb. 23.

In round one (Required) scoring, teams are judged on floor mobility, jumps, team coordination, difficulty and variety as well as general impression. The Falcon squad came out of the gate with a strong performance in round one, earning the second highest point total of the 14 teams participating.

In round two (Compulsory), teams must perform a minimum of five specified skills, with at least one that demonstrates flexibility, jumping and tumbling. Again, the Farmington girls executed beautifully, placed second in scoring and maintained their second place standing overall.

The third round, (Open) where teams are judged on floor mobility, vocals, team coordination and stunting skills, has been hit or miss for the Falcon Team this year. On this night however, it was a home-run. The entire squad was spot on on all accounts and nailed each and every stunt to perfection.

Normally, at cheer competitions, individual team scoring is announced after each round, third round included. This was not to be the case with round three. Instead of announcing individual team scores for round three, the judges tallied the scores from all three rounds and then were set to announce the top four teams that would advance to Regional Competition in Ortonville. Participants, coaches, parents and fans were all on edge, nerves were taut and the room was quiet.

Although a packed house, you could have heard a pin drop when first the fourth place finish was announced. Fourth place, with 640 points went to Warren Woods Tower. After the cheering subsided, it was announced that Madison Heights-Lamphere finished third with 666.40 points.

By that time, the Farmington squad and their fans were getting nervous. One parent was overheard to say, “Oh no! We aren't going to make it,” when the third place finish went to another school. Second place was then announced and the entire Farmington fan section along with the cheer team members erupted in unison with cheers and tears as the Falcons were named as second place finalists with a score of 675.52. To round off the top four, South Lyon earned first place honors with a very impressive total score of 702.44.

Congratulations girls! You make our community proud!

The Farmington Falcon Varsity Cheer Team is made up of:
Coach - Taryn Hudson, Captian - Kortney Rea, Captian - Khoi Barnett, Shelby Malone, Adriana Francavilla, Angela Taliercio, Amanda Cook, Stefy Rons, Casey Demars, Olivia DeMarois, McKenna Wreford, Keleiacha Herron, Suzanna Smentowski, Brea Waters, Indya Miller, Taylor Spear, Rachel Sherman, Alexa Flourre, Meraya Chamberlain, Morgan Gurney, Rachel Roche, and Alexxus Wood