Win gives West Ottawa something to cheer about

Monday,
January 16, 2006

By Cris Greer

The Grand Rapids Press

WEST OTTAWA -- After a
disappointing pre-conference meet last Monday, the West
Ottawa competitive cheer team rebounded with a dominating win in
its own invitational Saturday.

The Panthers grabbed first place
with a score of 692.6, followed by Hudsonville (634.9) and Caledonia
(634.6).

"I was happy with our
performance," said West Ottawa coach
Kelli Polinskey, in her eighth season. "I
think we did pretty well. I think they bounced back well. It was really good
for them at this time.

"We
had a really good crowd there and they felt confident and comfortable. That
was my goal, to get their confidence back."

Last week, the Panthers finished
fifth in the pre-conference meet. It was the lowest finish during Polinskey's tenure at West Ottawa.

"We didn't do well at all
there," Polinskey said. "Morale was
really low. It was quite a disappointing day.

"I think there were other
teams that wanted it more that day. We didn't have the fire."

Polinskey was pleased with the turnaround at
their invitational, however.

"Their performances were all
pretty strong considering everything we've been through. And it was nice to
have a meet where we weren't up against some of our bigger competitors,"
Polinskey said.

The team is led by seniors' Ashlee
Stone and Mande Pfost.

"They're really strong senior
leaders," Polinskey said. "Mande is in all three rounds and leads more by example.
Ashlee is more of a verbal leader and is really encouraging to the
team."

Other Panthers that compete in all
three rounds are juniors Christina Durnwald, Erica Sova, Heather Fuglseth, Jamie Overway, Sam Mosier, Nikki Rik
and sophomore Amanda Janowiak.

One major setback is two returning
girls -- Megan Rich and Megan Yowtz -- are
sidelined with broken hands.

Last year, West
Ottawa took second in Class A and shared the conference crown
with Grandville. This season could be a tougher road to the state finals.

"We've never really had to worry too much about regionals, but this year is different; it will be a nail
biter," Polinskey said. "Kentwood,
Grandville, Jenison, and West Ottawa are all
in the same regional and only two will make it out

."