Comstock Park wants to justify high ranking

Saturday,
February 02, 2008

By
Dean Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

COMSTOCK PARK
-- When tryouts began for the Comstock
Park competitive cheer
team, coach Kathy Felty said she had a good feeling
about what was to come.

The Panthers were coming off a top-five
finish in Division 3 at last season's state finals and graduated only five
seniors from that team.

That left plenty of talent
returning to the mat.

"I expected to have a good
season when we had tryouts in the fall before the football season," Felty said. "They have so much drive and talent and
it's really a great group of kids."

Comstock Park began the season with a victory
in its division at the Competitive Cheer Coaches Association of Michigan
Scholarship Invitational.

The Panthers followed that with
four wins in the O-K Blue Conference and reached the top of the Division 3
state rankings before slipping to second behind Chippewa Hills the past two
weeks.

"We had a rough start with
losing a couple girls early, but they've really pulled it together and become
unbelievably close as a team," Felty said.
"They're working hard and it's more than I could have imagined."

The Panthers are youthful this
season, "but no more young than teams I've had
in the past," Felty said.

It's a collection of individuals
who strive for success and have obtained it. The Panthers entered the week
with the top scoring average among Division 3 teams at 715.336 and boast the
top score in round 3 with a 301.5.

"Our round 3 is a lot of fun
and I love it," Comstock
Park senior Erica Yeomans said. "It's different from last year and we
do more unique things. That makes it fun to show everyone."

Comstock Park is anticipating a showdown
against top-ranked Chippewa Hills on Feb. 9 in the PR Cheer Invitational at
the Delta Plex.

The current top two teams in
Division 3 will square off for the first time.

"We're looking forward to
that," Felty said. "We had four of the
top five teams there last year and we won that, and a lot of good teams in
our division will be there again."

With four weeks remaining until regionals, the Panthers are hoping to peak in time to
make a return trip to the state meet.

Last season, the Panthers were
ranked No. 1 entering the postseason, but finished fourth in Division 3 at
the state finals.

"The girls are motivated
because they didn't have their best performance last year (at the state
finals)," Felty said. "They're ready to
make it back to state and make it their best this time. We're hoping to stay
healthy and injury-free in order to have a great rest of the year."

Added Yeomans:
"There's a lot of motivation for us. We want to get back and show people
what we have."

In addition to Yeomans,
the Panthers have been led by seniors Sarah Coble and Rachel Egner and junior Brittni May.