EAST LANSING — Nine schools’ student cheering sections have been selected for the semifinal round in the Battle of the Fans IX contest sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

All nine are Lower Peninsula schools — Traverse City West, Saginaw Heritage and Zeeland East in Class A; Frankenmuth, Caro and Buchanan in Class B; and Hart, Reese and Petersburg-Summerfield in classes C and D.

MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council invited schools to submit short videos via YouTube of their cheering sections with Saturday as the deadline. Nine were chosen and will now attempt to accomplish a list of tasks — including positive sportsmanship, student body participation and school spirit — over two weeks to be chosen as the three finalists.

The overall winner will be announced Feb. 21 and recognized on March 27 at the MHSAA boys basketball semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

To view all applications on YouTube, click on http://ow.ly/jjKe50xTTaF, while rules and links to past years’ coverage is found on the MHSAA website at https://www.mhsaa.com/BOTF.