Competitive
cheerleading: Grandville ends Rochester
run

Nearly flawless when it counted

BY
MARTIN DOBEK • FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER • March 8, 2008

ADAM BIRD/Special to the Free
Press

The
Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer team, which finished ninth,
competes in the state finals at the Delta Plex in
Grand Rapids.

Grandville came into the DeltaPlex determined to do one
thing: beat Rochester High to win the the Division
1 state competitive cheer championship.

The Lady Bulldogs did just that Friday, tallying 794.804
points to end the Falcons' streak of three consecutive state titles.

The Lady Bulldogs, ranked No. 3 in Division 1, had
finished runners-up to the Falcons in 2007 and 2006. They also finished
runners-up to the Falcons in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

This time it was Rochester's
turn to play second fiddle.

"It's kind of surreal, it's really exciting, all week
long we really didn't focus so much on winning a state championship,"
Grandville coach Julie Smith-Boyd. "I think the seniors in general did a
great job of keeping everybody focused.

Leading Rochester
by just half a point in the third round, Grandville needed to be near
flawless -- something the judges agreed it was in rewarding them a winning
score and their first state title since 2004.

"We talked about no matter what, if you were behind,
if you were ahead, you still had to go out there and hit Round 3 -- and we
did," Smith-Boyd said.

Smith-Boyd said she knew her team was overdue after
falling short the last two years. She also knew the Lady Bullogs
could nail their routine under pressure, because they turned in a flawless
third round in the regional meet to reach the finals.

"Last week was a defining moment for us, we knew we
had to be pretty perfect in Round 3, and they did it," Smith-Boyd said.
"Yeah we were second, but we were so thrilled that we made it."

It's been pure dominance by both squads, as the Bulldogs
and the Falcons are the only two teams, since the MHSAA started sanctioning
cheerleading in 1994, to have won a state championship. Rochester has 11 and Grandville now has
four.

Rochester finished second with a score of
792.304 and East Kentwood was third
(782.428).