Saturday,
March 5, 2005

West
Ottawa
seniors eye state title to cap stellar cheer careers

By ERIC GAERTNER Assistant sports editor

West Ottawa senior Kristen Reid
has been a part of a lot of success during her four varsity seasons of
competitive cheer.

She has earned
all-state honors as a sophomore and a junior. Her team has placed in the top
five at the state meet the last three years with two third-place finishes and a
fifth-place finish last year..

Reid and the
other two four-year seniors -- Amanda Wiersma and Katrina
Balangue -- on the West Ottawa team are looking to
cap their sterling careers with a Class A state championship. The Panthers
begin that quest tonight at the Class A regional at Jenison High School.
The top two teams at the regional, which is scheduled for 6 p.m., will advance
to the state finals.

"It
would be something that I would remember forever because I've been on this team
for four years and this is what we've been working for," Reid said.
"I know we can do it this year. I have a lot of confident in this
team."

West Ottawa coach Kelli Polinskey said her team will
take road toward the team's top goal one step at a time. That means placing in
top two at regionals to qualify for the state finals, then going after the
state title.

"We've
always gone into this final leg of the season with the hopes of getting a medal
at state or win state, but I don't think they've ever felt so confident in
themselves -- not in that they'll win but just that they're capable of
winning," Polinskey said. "It's such a hard-working group of girls
and there's so much experience on the team, so I just expect them to continue
what they've done all season and that's improve.

"Even
though they've been getting very, very high scores, they continue to improve
each week."

The Panthers
won the conference tournament last Saturday with a score of 734.5, beating out
last year's state champion, Grandville. West Ottawa
and Grandville shared the conference title this year.

Polinskey
credits the 13 seniors for leading the Panthers this season. Reid, Wiersma and Balangue, who was an
all-stater as a sophomore, have been key performers
throughout their careers.

West Ottawa, which is ranked second in Class A by the
coaches association, has also saw its fan support grow
over the years. Reid said the support from the fans helps the team perform
better.

"When
we hear them cheering for us, it really gets us going and it makes us feel a
lot stronger. You can tell in our scores."

Reid also
has noticed a growth in interest in the sport among her classmates.

"Some
of our best friends who aren't in cheerleading, we'll get home from practice
and they'll call us and say, 'How'd practice go?' and 'Are you guys pumped for
the competition?'" Reid said. "The first year they were like, 'Oh
cheerleading, cool, a whoop-dee-do kind of thing.'
But now they want to know about our stats, where we're ranked and all that kind
of stuff."

The support
for the West Ottawa competitive cheer team has
extended to other sports teams. Varsity basketball coach Von Washington, who
called himself a fan, addressed the cheer team Thursday before practice.

"I'm
very impressed," Washington
said. "I'm amazed in your athleticism, your drive and the way you come
together as a team. We all know you're going to get that state title this year."