By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
OXFORD TWP. — The Oxford competitive cheer teams had dominant performances in the Frozen Fest Invitational with the varsity squad taking first place in the D1 division on Saturday at Oxford High School.
After three rounds, the Oxford High School varsity squad edged out the Howell High School team 705.08 to 701.34 to take home the Frozen Fest trophy.
Heading into the third round, Oxford trailed Howell by nearly nine points but battled back with an excellent third round of tumbling and stunting to earn an 11.4 differential over Howell in the final round and secure the victory. Utica and Northville varsity teams came in third and fourth place, respectively.
Cheer competitions are three rounds for varsity and JV, with final standings determined by each team’s total score. In the first round, cheerleaders show their jumping skills and their ability to choreograph different motions. The second round is about precision, tumbling, jumping and flexibility. The third round focuses on tumbling and stunting, which includes pyramids and aerial maneuvers.
The Oxford JV squad finished first with their division besting second place Utica JV by 64.5 points. Oak Park JV was third and Northville JV finished fourth.
Varsity and JV cheer compete in three rounds. The middle school teams compete in two rounds.
The Oxford 8th grade team took won its division, beating Dewitt Middle School 8th grade team 431.18 to 389.96.
The Oxford 7th grade team (397.6 points) took second place in their division. Romeo (414.76 points) was first and Dewitt (320.6 points) was third.
The Oxford 6th grade squad was the only team in their division and finished with 372.06 points.