Kenowa Hills cheer team wins regional title

by Joel Vander Lugt

Tuesday March 04, 2008,
9:46 AM

Angela Kuhn

Members of the Kenowa Hills competitive cheer team perform a routine
during the regional tournament.

WALKER - Behind a flawless third round,
the Kenowa Hills Knights cheered, leapt and tumbled their way to a
come-from-behind regional title and the school's first berth in the
competitive cheer state tournament.

The
Knights' third round score of 312 was a new school record.

"The
girls were a little bit down, but they came out with so much intensity and
just did a phenomenal job," explained Kenowa Hills coach Brenda Looks.
"The girls were really fired up."

Kenowa
Hills got better and better as the day went on after posting a 210.5 in the
first round, putting the Knights in sixth place. They began to make their
move in the second round, boasting the best second round out of all 16 teams,
who came from as far as Marquette to compete.

The
Knights' second round of 220.208 meant they were within striking distance
entering the final round, just seven points behind Grand Rapids Christian and
four behind Cedar Springs, setting the stage for their third-round heroics.
Their final score of 742.708 was also a school record.

"The
girls are picking it up at the right time, and we're really excited for next
week," said Looks.

"This
is the first time we've gone to state, and it's been a long time coming. It's
just amazing. I'm speechless."

Also
advancing to the state finals was Grand Rapids Christian, which grabbed the
early lead with a 224.5 in the first round and never looked back, posting
scores of 212.544 and 304.5 in the following rounds for a total of 741.544.
The Eagles were the leaders after rounds one and two.

"That
lead really gave us some confidence," said Grand Rapids Christian coach
Jacquie De Young, who was named the Regional Coach Of The Year. "We have
a really young team, and I think the lead both gave them confidence and made
them nervous, but they still were able to perform extremely well. Doing this
well with the pressure on them will only help them next week."

It is the
first trip to the state finals for Grand Rapids Christian as well, an accomplishment coach De Young said will have big
ramifications for the future.

"This
means a ton for the program," said De Young. "Now the kids in the
younger grades can see us succeed, and I think that will really help grow the
program."

Rounding
out the top-five was Byron Center in fifth with a 722.108, Sparta took fourth with a 730.376 with
team-best rounds in both rounds two and three, and Cedar Springs finished
agonizingly close to moving on with a score of 737.028.

Red Hawk
coach Pam Ingles took solace in the fact that her team performed very well
all afternoon.

"That's
all you can ask for. We talked about doing our best in all three rounds, and
we did," said Ingles. "We knew it would be really tough today, and
I couldn't ask for more out of the girls today."

The state
finals will be held on Saturday, March 8 at the Deltaplex
in Grand Rapids.
Looks knows the experience will be invaluable for her girls.

"We're
going to go and do the best that we can do," she said. "We're going
to shoot for the top, but we just want to go and represent our school
well."