East Kentwood captures Class A
cheer regional championship

Sunday,
March 05, 2006

By Dean
Holzwarth

The Grand Rapids Press

PORTAGE -- After her team performed their
third round cheer, East Kentwood competitive
cheer coach Stacy Sheler figured that her team was headed to the state
finals.

What she didn't expect was to be
holding the regional championship trophy.

The Falcons won their first Class A
regional crown since 2001 on Saturday at Portage Northern
High School and in the
process ended Grandville's 11-year streak.

The Bulldogs had won 11 straight
regional titles, but settled for second place as East
Kentwood nipped them by less than two points.

"When we got done with that
third round we were very confident that we were going to do well and probably
go to state," Sheler said. "We didn't know that we would be
regional champions, but it's a wonderful surprise. I can't believe it and I'm
still in a little bit of shock."

Headed to state finals

The Falcons closed with a
three-round total of 748.2, while the Bulldogs tallied a 747.

Both teams now are headed to the
Class A state finals on Saturday at The DeltaPlex.

"We knew that they could do it
and we've been waiting for them to do every round perfect like they do in
practice," Sheler said. "It seems like each meet there's something
missing, but today we finally put it all together."

In one of the toughest Class A regionals in the state, West Ottawa
was left out after finishing third with a score of 734. Jenison
(704.4) was fourth and Hudsonville (658.8) was fifth.

"All three of us have been close
all season long so this wasn't unexpected," Grandville coach Julie
Smith-Boyd said. "I think today was more about handling the pressure
because you had to be on top of your game or you were going home.

"I'm proud of my girls with
how they came back. We qualified for state and that's what matters. You don't
have to be a regional champion to win a state title so everybody gets to
start over from scratch next weekend."

CLASS A AT
MOUNT PLEASANT: Rockford
won the regional championship and is headed to the state finals. Mount Pleasant took second while Forest
Hills took third.

CLASS B AT COMSTOCK PARK:
Holland Christian captured a Class B regional title after tallying a
three-round score of 721.3. The Maroons will be joined at next Saturday's
state finals by Sparta,
which placed second with a score of 712.8. The host Panthers (711) finished
third, while Wyoming
Park took fourth with
709.3 points.

CLASS C AT SHELBY: No area school advanced to the
state finals. Calvin Christian (589.2) took third behind second-place
Montague and champion Shelby.