Sparta cheer team has 'heart, talent'

Thursday,
December 23, 2004By Jeff Chaney

The Grand Rapids Press

SPARTA -- The Sparta competitive cheer team had its best
season a year ago.

The Spartans finished in
eighth place at the Class B state finals last March.

And optimism is high that
this year's squad may be even better than last year's team because only four
team members graduated.

"We have a lot of
the cheerleaders back from last year," senior Karla Ingersoll
said.

"I think we are just
as good last year. We have a lot of good skills. I think we will perform
better this year, because we know what to expect. We know how to prepare, we
are more experienced."

Karla's twin sister, Krista
Ingersoll, agrees.

Excited for season

"We are excited for
the new season," Krista Ingersoll said.
"We have the majority of the squad coming back, so we are pretty
experienced."

Sparta coach Kensey
Doolittle is confident her team will make even more strides this year.

"I believe we have
the potential to better our eighth place," said Doolittle, whose team
was second to Holland Christian in the O-K Rainbow Conference and won a
regional title last year.

"They have the
dedication, so I can see us going back to state and bettering that."

Doolittle says the whole
team will be key to the success of the Spartans this
year.

Ingersoll twins lead team

Her main leaders are the Ingersoll twins, who are both seniors, senior Kari Smith,
junior Heather Jansma and junior Tomi Tomson. Krista Ingersoll was second team all-state last year, while Tomson was honorable mention. The Spartans don't start
competing until January 17, when they travel to Comstock Park.

Karla Ingersoll
is fine with that.

"It gives us more time
to practice and critique our cheers," she said.

Doolittle believes her
team will be ready.

"This is my third
year as varsity coach, but I have been coaching a lot of girls since second
grade." Doolittle said. "This is a close group and I couldn't ask
for a better one. They have heart and talent."

© 2004 Grand Rapids Press.
Used with permission

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