GR Christian
cheer team third at Allendale

Thursday,
January 19, 2006

By Dean
Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

It was a debut the Grand Rapids
Christian competitive cheer team had eagerly awaited and it was an
encouraging start for coach Jacquie DeJonge.

The Eagles competed for the first
time this season at last week's Allendale Invitational and placed third
behind Godwin Heights and Kenowa Hills with a young
team of seven freshmen, three sophomores, four juniors and only three
seniors.

GR Christian, with 655 points, was
a point away from placing second.

"I was really happy with
it," DeJonge said.

"We looked at the tape the
next day and it was great for our first meet. I think it was the highest
score that we've had in a first meet."

Not intimidated

DeJonge said her freshmen didn't seem
intimidated by taking the mat for the first time at the high school level.

"I had three freshman on the floor in round three and there were no
mistakes made," DeJonge said. "They
didn't have any fear or pressure and they were very loose in all three
rounds.

"The older girls knew what was
on the line and made some mental errors, but overall it was a good
performance. It was clean with no falls, so I was very proud of all of
them."

The deciding factor last week that
prevented the Eagles from placing higher was a Round 2 that is still a work
in progress.

"Our Round 2 is in the
developmental stage and we only had one 12-point skill last week," DeJonge said. "I think Godwin had two (12-point
skills) and Kenowa had three so it's hard to score higher when you have few
numbers of 12-point skills.

"It was all right with me,
though, because I wanted it to be solid and I chose to go with a clean routine.
It was a good baseline for us and we'll work from there."

DeJonge made a decision this season to go
with two teams instead of only one, so a junior varsity squad also was
formed.

It will allow all of the girls to
take part in competitions instead of having girls sit out.

"I'm sacrificing numbers on
the varsity in order to grow in the future," DeJonge
said. "All 17 perform in every meet and I think that's better than
having 12 girls on the mat and five on the sidelines."

The Eagles are led by seniors captains Andrea Holwerda
and Gina VanderVeen and junior captains Allison Veen and Laura Holwerda.

Elenbaas excels in Round 2

Julie Elenbaas
is the other remaining senior and is tabbed as the team's best tumbler in
Round 2.

"As a whole this team is young
but they're very motivated," DeJonge said.

"They're always watching other
teams and trying to make things better. They're great jumpers, they have
strong motions and they're very enthusiastic."

The Eagles have a pair of
competitions slated for next week.

They'll compete at the Byron Center
Invitational on Monday and the Catholic Central Invitational on Thursday.