Cheer team looking for 'breakout year'

Thursday,
January 20, 2005By Jeff Chaney

The Grand Rapids Press

COOPERSVILLE -- The
Coopersville competitive cheer team has been in existence since 1998.

The Broncos have faired
well, but have never won a conference championship or competed for a state championship.
That could change this season with a roster that is filled with talent and
experience.

"We have 22 girls on
the team and 10 of them are seniors," Coopersville coach Angie Mertin said. "So this could be a breakout year for
us. The girls need to maintain their focus. They can't let minor setbacks
keep in the way of being motivated and working hard."

The long list of seniors
begins with the team's captains -- Sara Andrews, Emily Brown and Jessica Gustin. Mertin says they are
the heart of the team.

Mertin also has been impressed with the
work of seniors Risha Lillie and Jacklyn Welsheimer. This is
Lillie's first year on the team.

Andrews likes the team's
success so far this season. Coopersville came in third place in its first
competition of the year -- an invitational at Allendale on January 12.

"I think we are
doing very well, and this is our best year we have had in a long time,"
Andrews said. "I think we can go farther than we have gone before. We
have a good team, and we all connect very well. Most of us have been together
since junior high."

Last year the Broncos
finished in the middle of the pack of the O-K Rainbow Conference Tier 3.

"If we can stay in
the upper three in all of the conference meets, I know I would be happy, and
I'm sure the girls would be happy," Mertin
said. "We have some tough teams in our conference, which makes that
difficult, but I know we can do it."

It would make Andrews
happy, too.

"I would like to win
our conference," Andrews said. "I think this year we can achieve
that."

The team competes next
Wednesday at Belding.

© 2005 Grand Rapids Press. Used
with permission

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