Byron Center clinches first
conference title

by Advance Newspapers

Monday February 25,
2008, 2:21 PM

The Byron Center
competitive cheer team came out of the O-K Gold conference tournament with a
big win.

"It
was a great feeling," said Bulldogs coach Amy Hass. "It was the
first ever conference championship for Byron Center
cheer, so it was pretty exciting.

"The best part of
the day was that we were pleased walking off the mat in all three
rounds," she explained. "We had some meets where we had rounds that
didn't go as we wanted them. We were ecstatic about every single round. We
had no regrets."

Byron Center scored 214.5 in the first round,
and 207.018 in round two. The Bulldogs went on to score 292 in round three
for a total of 713.518. Middleville took second with only 664.920 points.

"This truly has been
a complete team effort," said Hass. "Everybody puts so much into
this program and dedicates so much time. This was the first year when I have
had all of the kids in a round. These are very talented kids."

The team is led by its
five seniors: Emily Ray, Amanda Merritt and Jill Gress
who have been with the team for four years, and Amanda Loehle
and Lauren Patterson who have been on the team for three years.

The Bulldogs will travel
to Kenowa for the regional cheer tournament on Saturday.

"I think this is one
of the hardest regionals in the state for Division
2," said Hass. "There are more of the top teams in the state at
this regional than any other. It will be very challenging.

"We feel confident
going into the regional, but there are amazing teams in the regional. I feel
it could be anybody's day, and it will come down to who wants it more and
performs best."