Forty-two
schools prep for state cheer tourney

Sunday,
February 12, 2006

By
Steve Ungrey

The Grand Rapids Press

WALKER -- The atmosphere at Saturday's
DeltaPlex competitive cheer invitational resembled a gigantic pep rally at
times, what with a crowd of close to 3,000 on hand to watch and many
spectators wearing their school's colors.

For the 42 varsity teams taking
part in the meet, there was more at stake than just cheering. In just under a
month, the Michigan High School Athletic Association's state finals will be
back on the same mat.

That was
why good scores and high finishes were the order of the day, and Grandville
and West Ottawa's cheer teams lived up to the challenge in the Class A
portion of the meet. Neither school was able to wrestle the championship away
from Rochester, as the Bulldogs finished
second (723.5) and West Ottawa third (722) behind Rochester's winning score of 731.7 points.

It was a close battle heading into
the third and final round of the day, with Rochester
leading Grandville by nearly four points and West Ottawa
by seven.

The three schools are among those
favored during the March 11 state finals.

"It was a little different than
what they did when we saw them a few weeks ago," said Grandville coach
Julie Smith-Boyd, who celebrated her 25th anniversary as a varsity
competitive cheer coach last week. "Rochester had a good routine."

Rochester too much

In the third round, Rochester added to its slim margin by scoring 312
points, with West Ottawa in second at 309
and Grandville in third at 307.5.

Still, the experience of competing
on the same mats used in the state finals is a big plus for Grandville.

"This meet is actually a bigger
one than the state meet because there are some teams here who may not make it
to the state finals," Smith-Boyd said.

"We've been gearing up for
this meet for a long time, I don't think our third round was as solid as it
could have been, we scored really high in round one but rounds two and three
were a little off from what we could have done."

Grandville will see Rochester and West Ottawa
once again at Saturday's Chesaning tournament, providing another chance to
see its possible state competition.

Holland Chr.
wins Class B

In the Class B tournament, Holland
Christian's varsity took first in its pool with 696 points.

It was the lowest score of the
season for the Maroons, but it was still good enough to win against strong
competition.

"Our first and second rounds
went very well today, it was a very positive day all around," said Beth Lintemuth, who co-coaches the team along with her mother
Peggy Lintemuth. "We had a good reason to be
excited about how the day turned out."