Grandville
wins, determined to keep improving

Thursday,
January 10, 2008

By
Dean Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

HUDSONVILLE -- The Grandville
competitive cheer team will not fall victim to complacency.

Despite winning Wednesday night's
O-K Red Preseason Meet by a comfortable margin over their league counterparts,
coach Julie Smith-Boyd understands that her team has to continue to compete
at a high level.

"No one is going to get
complacent," Smith-Boyd said. "Everyone else in our league keeps
improving and we have to keep improving too.

"There a lot of things still
to fix, but I think the girls have gelled really well and they're starting to
understand the importance of our program."

The Bulldogs continued their early
success by tallying a three-round score of 778.292 at Hudsonville High School.

Jenison finished a surprising
second with a score of 758.570 and edged third-place East
Kentwood (757.190).

Rockford (744.484) was fourth, and West Ottawa (744.330) was fifth. Hudsonville (740.590)
and Muskegon
(257.9) were sixth and seventh, respectively.

Grandville collected top honors
for the second time in five days. The Bulldogs won their own invitational on
Saturday.

"Overall we had good
consistency in rounds 1 and 2 and our round 3 has improved a lot,"
Smith-Boyd said. "It's odd for us to have such big leads because we
haven't had that in the last couple years, but I think the scoring changes
have benefited us.

"Tonight it was a big deal to
win this preseason meet and it just sets us up well for a better finish at
the end."

Jenison coach Wendy Kenney was thrilled
with her team's finish, especially with a young cast in each round.

"We're excited and we just
had to put our best effort into all three rounds and see where we came
out," she said. "We're a little younger, but we have a ton of
talent and every time they take the mat they keep improving."

The Wildcats finished fourth in
the conference last year, but beat out perennial conference powerhouses East
Kentwood and West Ottawa on Wednesday.

"I was unsure about how we
would place because our conference is so tough with a lot of good teams, but
I think now the girls can see that their hard work in practice is paying
off," Kenney said. "It's a boost of confidence and they know
they're on the right track."