Monday, February 19, 2007

Panther
cheer athlete holds center position

Senior Erica Sova fills
key spot for West Ottawa cheer

By LEO MARTONOSI Senior
correspondent

Sova

West Ottawa senior Erica Sova loves being a competitive cheer athlete.

"I
always wanted to be like my older cousins, who were cheerleaders," Sova said.

Sova, a three-year varsity letter winner, is enjoying her
senior season for the Panthers, who are ranked No. 3 in Division 1 by the
Michigan Competitive Cheer Coaches Association.

"Erica
is having an outstanding senior year," said West
Ottawa coach Kristine Brandt. "She's definitely one of our
leaders."

Sova, who competes in all three rounds, has many skills
strong competitive cheerleaders possess.

"She's
extremely strong, and probably the tallest girl on the team," Brandt said."She's our center person which is a very key
position."

Sova is not as vocal as many of her teammates.

"She's
our silent leader," Brandt said. "She just does what needs to be
done."

Brandt
said Sova is so much better than when she was on
the varsity as a sophomore.

"Erica
has improved leaps and bounds from her sophomore year," Brandt said.
"She was very quiet, very timid her first year on the varsity.

"She's
a hard worker and has so much more confidence in her ability as a
senior."

Sova and her teammates have one big goal in mind this
winter.

"Our
goal is to win state," Sova said.

Even
though this is Sova's final season, it isn't her
favorite season yet anyway.

"Actually,
my favorite year was my sophomore year," Sova
said. "The seniors were awesome back then. They encouraged me and taught
me a lot."

Now that Sova is on her way to graduating, she hasn't forgotten
her younger years.

"For
me, it's my way of giving something back to the underclassmen that were given
to me by the seniors when I was a sophomore," said Sova,
who plans on attending Grand
Valley State
University.

Sova doesn't plan on participating in any sports at GVSU.

"Sports
are out," Sova said. "I'm majoring in
elementary education. I want to be an elementary teacher."

Sova may even give coaching a shot once she gets her
bachelor's degree from Grand
Valley.

"Coaching
is something I really want to get into," Sova
said.