East Kentwood optimistic despite graduation losses

Monday,
December 04, 2006

By Dean
Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

When East
Kentwood competitive cheer co-coach Stacy Sheler first realized
11 seniors had graduated from last year's team, she feared the worst.

A strong senior class led
the Falcons to a third-place finish in the Class A state finals a year ago,
leaving behind a youthful roster.

"We lost a lot of
good seniors, and at the beginning of summer and into the sideline season, we
thought it was going to be a long year," Sheler said. "But, after
the football season, I now think that the team we have is as strong, if not better,
than last year. We have an amazing young team that is very talented."

What looked
like a rebuilding season with just six seniors quickly has turned into a
promising one for an East Kentwood program
that has been among the state's elite the past few years.

East
Kentwood has
qualified for the state finals five consecutive years, which included a
school-best runner-up finish in 2004. The Falcons
upset Grandville at regionals last season to claim
their first regional title in 11 years.

"Last year was a lot
of fun for us," said Sheler, who coaches with her sister, Stephanie
Stephenson. "But this year's team has the potential to be very good,
too. Our material is stronger and my sister and I both have been amazed at
how much these girls can do. They're doing more tucks, and our flyers are
doing things we never thought they could do."

The Falcons, who will
compete for the first time Dec. 18 at the Competitive Cheer Coaches
Association of Michigan Scholarship Invitational at Allegan High School,
will be led by seniors Andrea Phillips, Ashley DeRuiter
and Lindsey DeRuiter.

Phillips and Ashley DeRuiter are four-year varsity performers, while Lindsey DeRuiter is in her third year on the varsity.

Sheler said the seniors
have provided leadership.

"The seniors have
been awesome leaders," she said. "They're teaching the young girls
what to do, and it helps because a majority of the girls have been with me a
while and they know what I expect. It's not like we're starting over from
scratch."

The optimism within the
program has created lofty expectations.

"I think this group
has the talent and they have what it takes to be state champions," she
said. "That's our goal, and I'm just anxious to see what these girls can
do on the floor."