HC competitive cheer places first at jamboree

By LEO MARTONOSI

The Holland Sentinel

Feb 11, 2009

Zeeland, MI —

Holland
Christian continued its winning ways at the O-K Green Conference competitive
cheer jamboree Wednesday night at Zeeland East.

“We’re
very happy with our performance,” said Maroons co-head coach Beth
Cunningham.

The
Maroons finished with an overall 746.8834 winning score. Byron Center was second at 740.9072
and Wyoming Park third with 685.1
points.

Zeeland
West came in fourth with a 658.5364 score. Wyoming Rogers was fifth at
589.22, Hamilton sixth at 525.478 and Zeeland East seventh with a 517.0312
score.

“This
was our fourth O-K Green win in four meets going into our conference
championship meet Saturday,” said Holland Christian co-head coach
Darlene Draisma.

Holland
Christian had its best score of the season at 220.5834 in Round 2.

“All
seven of the girls did very well,” Cunningham said of Taylor Dosier, Olivia Edewaard, Carah Hoitenga, Kelly Marsman, Brittani Slenk, Brinslea VanKampen and Katelyn VerHage.

VerHage, a three-round senior four-year standout for the Maroons
loves having dual head coaches.

“Beth
and Dar work well together,” VerHage said.
“They compliment each other very well.”

Marsman and Slenk — also
participated in three rounds for the Maroons.

Zeeland
West third-year coach Jessica Brinks was a little disappointed with her
team’s performance.

“We
had a good second round, but we did not perform like I thought we
would,” Brinks said. “We’ll get there.”

Megan Ulery hopes to bring some stability to Zeeland East
coaching staff which has had three different coaches in three years

“I
plan on being around for the long haul,” said Ulery,
who was happy with her team’s Round 3 score. “We changed some
things around and had a good Round 3 score.”

Krystal
Shelton of Hamilton, another first-year coach was thrilled with her
team’s performance in Round 1 and Round 2.

“We
fell apart in Round 3, but we did very well in the first two rounds,” Shelton said.

The
Hawkeyes did not field a team last and does not have a junior varsity team
this winter.

“It’s
tough not having a team last year and not having a junior varsity team, but
the girls we do have have been working hard and
getting better,” Shelton said.