Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press The Escanaba competitive cheer team goes through its Round 2 routine during Saturday’s Escanaba Invitational. The Eskymos won with 732.82 points.

ESCANABA — First-year competitive cheer coach Sam Griebel got the perfect birthday gift from her Escanaba girls Saturday — a first-place finish.

The Eskymos scored 732.82 points, good enough for first in Division 3 in the Escanaba Invitational. Gladstone was runner-up with 701.38 points.

“We have a great group of girls,” Griebel said. “They went out there today and gave it so much energy. That’s kind of how I coach them. It gets the crowd excited, it gets them excited, and they do it every competition.”

The Eskymos, who have consistently scored in the top 10 in the state all season, placed third in the state and broke the school record for highest Round 3 score Jan. 25 at the Munising Invitational. Their total score was a season-high 742 to place them 10th in the state.

“I honestly was expecting a lot more bumps and bruises then we’ve had,” Griebel said. “The girls are just great. Most of them have been in the program since middle school, so it’s easy to coach them.”

Gladstone scored over 700 points for the first time this season.

Braves coach Kristie Nevala noted their Round 3 was the best they’ve had.

“They performed to their potential today,” she said.

“We have struggled all year. Today is the first time that they’ve actually hit their Round 3. They’ve been pretty solid in Round 1 and Round 2 all year, but Round 3 has been a struggle. We were ecstatic today.”

Munising took first in Division 4 with 759.26 points, followed by Norway (653.68) and Iron Mountain (628.6).

The Escanaba junior high team also took first. Manistique was fourth and Gladstone was fifth.

Esky resumes at the Houghton Lake Invitational Saturday.