Bulldogs dig in for defense of cheer title

Thursday,
December 16, 2004By Dean Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

GRANDVILLE -- The last
time the Grandville competitive cheer team took the mat, it was celebrating a
state championship.

Nine months later, the
Bulldogs are eager to return to the competitive arena in pursuit of similar
success.

Grandville is preparing
to defend its Class A state title, which was won last March at the DeltaPlex,
but the wait has been tough for coach Julie Smith-Boyd and her team.

"They're really
excited to start," Smith-Boyd said last week as her team was tuning up
for the first meet of the new season. "It seems from last March until
now it's been a long time and they just need to get out there and feel that
adrenaline rush again."

That rush eventually came
last Saturday when the Bulldogs competed at the annual Competitive Cheer
Coaches Invitational at Comstock
Park.

Grandville picked up
where they left off and triumphed in Pool C with 711.5 points. Smith-Boyd
said the first meet was a welcomed sight.

"We start Nov. 8 and
our first meet is Dec. 11 so that's a lot of long practices," she said.
"We're making up material and it's challenging to do new things and put
in different words because you don't want to look like last year."

Last year's state title
occurred after five years of near misses. It was their first since the
1997-98 season and it broke the three-year dominance
of Rochester.

But while the Bulldogs
were satisfied with finally breaking through, their greatest challenge will
be hanging onto the top spot.

"I still feel like
we have something to prove and that's a good thing because if they didn't
then I think it would be harder to sell," Smith-Boyd said. "We know
that people are always gunning for Grandville and it will probably be even
more so this year."

Grandville senior Amanda
Ward knows that the team can't be content with last year's feat.

"I think
expectations are higher because now we have to live up to something,"
Ward said. "We can't just win one and just settle down. We have to work
harder than before to prove it and that's our theme. We want to prove that we
deserved the title."

Smith-Boyd said there are
greater demands that go along with being state champions.

"There's the
pressure to look good right off the bat," she said. "We are the
defending state champions and you want to go out and look like you did the
day you won it."

© 2004 Grand Rapids Press.
Used with permission

Copyright 2004 Michigan Live. All
Rights Reserved.