Jenison cheer team does well vs. top
opponents

Thursday,
January 13, 2005By Dean Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

JENISON -- The Jenison competitive cheer team had never taken to the
mat in December.

This year, however, they
took part in the Allegan Invitational in an attempt to better prepare themselves for a busy month of January.

The early experience paid
off as the Wildcats took top honors in Allegan before competing at last
Saturday's Grandville Invitational.

"It was much smaller
with only four other teams there, but it was a great way to get our feet wet
before going to the big one in Grandville," Jenison
coach Wendy Contreras said.

Wildcats senior Sarah Shelner said the December meet was the perfect way to set
the tone for the upcoming season.

"It was nice to open
the season with first place," she said. "It gave us a lot of
confidence and it motivated us to do well on Saturday."

At Grandville, the
Wildcats placed third in Class A Division 1 behind runner-up West Ottawa and defending Class A state champion
Grandville.

The Wildcats finished
with a three-round total of 692, which included the second-highest score in
round 2 (208.5).

"It was obviously a
big day for us with all of the best teams together for the first time and we
were pretty excited about showing our material," Contreras said.

"We made some
changes from our first competition in round 3 and the team really liked it.
We were pleased with round 3 and round 2, but we had a couple of mental
errors in round 1 that we plan on cleaning up before our next competition."

Facing some top teams

Shelner also was thrilled with her team's
effort while competing against the top teams in the area.

"I thought we did a
really good job," Shelner said. "We just
wanted to do our best and kick it out. We have a young team, but we have a
lot of talent and we really work well as a team."

Jenison's roster consists of seven
seniors, seven juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen.

Shelner and Bridget VanderMeer
have been on the varsity four years, while seniors Amanda Veldman,
Jessica Termolen and Kaitlyn
Visser are three-year performers. Amanda Buurstra and Stephanie Andres are the remaining seniors.

"This is a very
athletic and talented team and I see their potential at practice," Contreras
said. "I'm just hoping they can show it off on the mat and they're
starting to get to the point where they believe in themselves."

The Wildcats have
advanced to the Class A state finals two straight years--placing seventh last
year--and will attempt for a third trip in early March when they host regionals.

"We definitely have
a good chance to go back to state, but we just have to keep improving every
week until regionals gets here," Contreras
said.

The Wildcats will host
the Jenison Invitational on Jan. 22.

© 2005 Grand Rapids Press.
Used with permission

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