Grandville
competitive cheer team takes second at state finals

Sue Barthold | Advance Newspapers, March
10, 2009

The
Grandville competitive cheer team finished second in the Division 1 state
meet Saturday at the DeltaPlex. - (ADVANCE photos by KAREN WAITE)

East Kentwood placed third at
the D-1 competitive cheer state meet Saturday.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Don't tell competitive cheer
fans that cheerleading is not a sport or a spectator sport.

On Saturday the MHSAA State Finals
started at 9 a.m. at the DeltaPlex, but fans from Rochester thought they would get a jump on
the line and showed up at 3 a.m., only to be met by fans from
Sterling Heights Stevenson, who were in front of them. Representing the Grand Rapids area were three tough O-K Red
Teams: East
Kentwood,
Grandville and West Ottawa.

When everything was done it was Rochester that took the top honors with
811.25 points, with Grandville the runner up with 806.04 points. They were
followed by East
Kentwood
(802.65), Sterling Heights Stevenson (797.37), Southgate Anderson (788.79), Rochester Stony Creek (787.37), seventh-place West Ottawa (784.63) and Lake Orion with 783.69 points.

In the final competition the eight
teams perform in three rounds to reach the ultimate goal of being crowned the
Division 1 state champions. East Kentwood drew the No. 1 slot and was first to perform.
Chanting, "E-K Falcons bring it home," they jumped and twirled in
precision with no obvious mistakes.

Grandville has competed at this
level before winning the title last year over Rochester, and they took the top honors
four other times.

"I really don't dwell on the
past championships," stated Grandville coach Julie Boyd Smith. "I
am proud that we have been able to be in the state finals every year since
they started to compete at this level. Winning is important, but the most
important thing is doing our best at the right time."

Smith was quick to note that her
team builds toward this event and was able to perform at its best when it
really counted. Grandville senior captains Sara Datema
and Kelsey Byxbe were also happy with the results
of the event and the season.

"We started off a little
rough this season because we were young and needed to get the
experience," said Datema.

"We are happy we did our best
at the end," added Byxbe.

Juniors Jenna Richardson and
Kelsey Vanderwiere will be captains next year and are
ready to start the process all over again.

The judges are looking for
formations, and they only judge the first two jumps in the
one-and-a-half-minute routing. The Bulldogs impressed the judges in round
one, scoring 233.2 points to place them second. Kentwood started in fourth with 228.3
points.

In round two each team starts off
with the same 10 moves. Grandville opened the competition with back flips and
other difficult stunts to set the standard. The Bulldogs placed second again
with 252.24 points, just 1.82 behind meet-leading Rochester and trailing by a mere 2.41
points. East
Kentwood
again placed third in the second round, 2.4 points behind and trailing by
7.89 total points.

The stage was set with the top-3
teams: Grandville, East Kentwood and Rochester competing in order in the middle
of the competition. Grandville had that wow factor in round three when they
moved with precision into each stunt. The entire group of sixteen girls did
back handsprings followed by a back summersault.

Next East Kentwood took the mat and also were impressive. The Falcons started with back
summersaults and impressed the judges until the end. The flyers were
especially spectacular, as they showed great flexibility and athleticism in
their movements high above the outstretched arms of their bases.

East Kenwood seniors Kierya
Wilson, Jessica Kurdziel, Chali
Clark, Lauren Trudel, Vivian Do, Lauren White and Chantel Martin were disappointed in their third-place
finish only because they were hoping for a trophy.

"We did our best,"
stated E-K coach Stacy Sheler, who like her seniors
said, "We left our heart on the floor. They did everything we asked and
more, and that is all we can ask for."