Bulldog cheerleaders take second at Delta-Plex

by Advance Newspapers

Monday February 11,
2008, 4:47 PM

It was a different venue than they are used to, but the Bulldogs
competitive cheerleaders didn't miss a step.

Grandville took second place in the Division 1
competition at Saturday's PR Cheer-Delta Plex
tournament. The Bulldogs finished with 778.703 points, which placed them
behind Rochester's
final tally of 793.392. East Kentwood came
in third with 775.260 points.

In a meet that featured most of the top teams in the state, Grandville
coach Julie Smith-Boyd was pleased with how her team performed in such a
challenging competition.

"It's great to go to that competition and cheer in that
atmosphere," she said. "It's different than performing in a gym.
The acoustics are different, there's a lot more people, the
lights are different. It was good to go and get the experience of doing our
routine there."

The Bulldogs performed well with scores of 220 for round one and 242.204
for round two.

Grandville earned a mark of 316.5 in round three, which Smith-Boyd said was
difficult from a vocal-performance aspect.

"In round three I thought we did a good job considering the
location and the acoustics," she said. "It's really hard to hear in
there with so much noise and the ceilings being so high. The vocals can get
lost. But I thought we did a great job performing in that location.

Grandville hosted a 15-team meet on Monday that was an alumni night
for the cheerleaders and also teacher appreciation night. Part of the
proceeds of the gate price and 50/50 drawing were donated to a former
Grandville cheerleader whose husband was diagnosed with ALS.

Next the Bulldogs compete at Chesaning on Saturday against several other of the top teams in the state, including Rochester, Lake
Orion and East
Kentwood.

"It was a good team effort. I think the girls are maturing and
becoming more mentally tough," said Smith-Boyd. "Three weeks ago we
went to the East Side of the state and kinda faded under pressure. (Saturday) we had three solid
rounds. With a young team that experience and getting under those big crowds
is really valuable."