Kenowa
cheers into sixth place at state

by Advance Newspapers

Monday March 10, 2008,
2:54 PM

For the first time, the
Kenowa cheer team made the state tournament. Last Saturday, the Knights made
their way into the top-10 to finish sixth in the state meet held at the Delta
Plex.

"It
was an interesting day," said Kenowa coach Brenda Looks. "We were
so happy to be there, and we learned so much from the other teams. We are
really excited for next year."

On Saturday in the
Division 2 state meet, Kenowa scored a total of 713.920 with round scores of
206, 214.920 and 293 on the day.

"This was our first
time at state, so the whole day was a highlight for us," said the coach.
"We definitely enjoyed it, and hopefully we will go back next
year."

The team graduates just
one senior this season in Kamara Schmidt. The team
will rely on their 10 juniors from this year's team: Michelle Karas, Nicolette Looks, Brianna McNees,
Julia Meurer, Brianna Novitsky,
Laurel Pennell, Stacy Vandriel, Casey Viilo, Shaina Wabindato and Katelyn Zalewski.
The team should also return five sophomores and eight freshmen.

"This was such a
great season," said Coach Looks. "The whole season was a huge team
effort. The girls worked so hard together.

"Winning the
regional was amazing," she said. "We had to come back from a 14.5
(point) deficit to win it. It was great."