Grandville
competitive cheer rebounds to nab tournament

Sunday,
January 15, 2006

By Dean
Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

JENISON -- The Grandville competitive
cheer team didn't take too kindly to taking third at their
own invitational last weekend.

The Bulldogs recovered nicely with
a pair of solid outings this week, capped off by a victory Saturday at the
Jenison Invitational.

Grandville, ranked No. 2 in the
state, posted an impressive three-round score of 711.8 to take top honors for
the second time in six days.

The Bulldogs also won Monday's O-K
Red preseason meet at Rockford.

"I think we wanted to prove to
everyone that we could still do it," Grandville senior Melissa Bergsma
said. "I think it actually helped starting off third because then we
didn't go out expecting to take first. It makes you try harder to get first
the next time and it ended up being a great week. We worked hard for
it."

Grandville overcame two of its
conference rivals as East Kentwood and the
host Wildcats placed runner-up and third, respectively, in Class A.

The Falcons tallied a final score
of 680.7, while Jenison closed with a 674.4.

For Grandville coach Julie
Smith-Boyd, the successful week was just what her team needed to shake off
the disappointment of a fall and a penalty at the Grandville Invitational a
week earlier.

"We're building
momentum," Smith-Boyd said. "I think we're getting more confident
with everything. Winning the preseason conference meet was big for us and we
just cleaned up a lot of little things this week."

The Bulldogs clung to a slim lead
over East Kentwood entering the final round,
but distanced themselves with a high score of 301 in their stunt round.

"Today we were a little flat
in a couple of areas, but you can't be up all the time," Smith-Boyd
said. "I think we're getting more consistent and I really liked our
round three today.

"We added some stuff to it and
it was different for us with a lot of things going on in it, but the girls
like to do it and they did well."

In Class B/C/D, the Sparta made a resounding
debut to capture the title.

The Spartans were competing for the
first time this season, but prevailed over runner-up Wyoming Park
(658.6) with a final score of 673.5.

"This was our first
competition and they were really nervous, but they ended up doing an
excellent job," Sparta
coach Kensey Doolittle said. "They kicked it
out better than I thought they would and I couldn't be more prouder.

"We knew that (Wyoming) Park would be
tough, but I was happy with all three rounds and they just did an awesome job."