Sunday, March 11, 2007

Maroons
claim first competitive cheer state title

By
MATT PICKEL Special to The Sentinel

GRAND RAPIDS -- The Holland
Christian competitive cheer team won its first state title Saturday at the
DeltaPlex.

The
Maroons finished the day with a total score of 722.3, 9.5 points ahead of
second-place DeWitt at the Division 2 state finals.

"Each
round they went out, I was so impressed," first-year head coach Beth
Cunningham said. "They were phenomenal. They did such a great job, and
we couldn't be more proud. They've worked so hard, and I'm so excited for our
seniors."

The
Maroons entered the competition ranked No. 1 in the state.

"It
feels amazing," senior Anna Genzink said.
"After regionals and the third round today, it
feels so good. Leaving your senior year like this is just amazing, I couldn't
have asked for anything else. We all left the mat with no regrets. It's just
good to know you left that way."

Assistant
coach Peggy Lintemuth, who started Holland
Christian's program five years ago, said the girls focused more on their team
performance rather than their overall score.

"We
did not focus on winning at all," she said. "We focused on having
their best day of the year. Whatever happened with that happened. Even before
they knew what their scores were, they all said, 'We don't care.' Our most
competitive cheerleaders said, 'I honestly don't care.'"

Lintemuth said she never expected the program to
accomplish what it has.

"I
never even considered the possibility," she said. "It was so rough
in the beginning. I used to go home from practices and cry. If you would have
told me five years ago that we'd be standing here and accomplished this, I
would have thought you were crazy. To take a program that didn't have
anything to do with competitive cheer and to be able to do this is really a
tremendous accomplishment."

Assistant
coach Kendra Neil said the team wasn't nearly as concerned with the outcome
as they were of its performance.

"They
worked so hard," Neil said. "Our main focus was to have them go out
and have fun. They nailed all three rounds. They definitely peaked at the
right time."

Genzink said the team knew when its coach thought they had a
good performance.

"She
always cries," she said. "When she cries, we know that we did good. She cried after the first and second round. Third
round, she said, 'Girls, just do your best.' That was really encouraging for
us to see her not say, 'You need to get first.'"

The
thought of being a state champion hadn't yet hit sophomore Sam Klaasen after the competition.

"It
really hasn't sunk in yet that we actually won a state title," she said.
"I don't even know how to explain it. You can't stop smiling."

Allen Park (709), Mount Pleasant
(707.9), Gibraltar Carlson (691.8), Sparta
(670.2), Portage Northern (654.20), Mattawan (651.3), St. Clair (638.1) and Oxford (614.1) rounded
out the field in the competition.