Grandville
takes second

Sunday,
March 12, 2006

By Cris Greer

The Grand Rapids Press

WALKER -- It ain't
over till it's over.

These profound words rang true in
the Class A competitive cheer finals Saturday at The DeltaPlex.

Going into the final round,
Grandville held nearly an eight point lead over state champion Rochester and was
cruising toward its fourth title.

Rochester, however, outscored everyone in
the third round by a large margin, while the Bulldogs encountered a fall that
helped give Rochester
its 10th championship.

"It's probably been our most
consistent round all year; we've had very few falls," said Grandville
coach Julie Smith-Boyd, whose Bulldogs finished second.

"My team really wanted to take
the risk this year and do a more difficult routine. They wanted to push
themselves and sometimes it doesn't go."

"It's hard to know what to say
to them when they're that devastated. I give them a lot of credit for not
just falling and standing there. They got back up and that showed a lot of
courage and fight."

Rochester won the state championship with a
total of 739.7, followed by Grandville (727.9) and East Kentwood
(720.7). Rockford
was sixth with 713.5 points.

Grandville led by a half point over
Rochester
after the first round, 200.5 to 200, and increased its lead to 423.9 to 416.2
after Round 2.

The Bulldogs, however, opened the
door to Rochester
in Round 3.

"It was going so well, we've
never had that big of a lead going into Round 3," Smith-Boyd said.

"Rarely are we ever ahead of Rochester (before Round
3)."

The fall "was one of those
things that you don't know if it was an added adrenaline rush ... . We talked about staying focused last year we fell
here, too."

Rochester coach Susan Wood, whose team has
been a perennial favorite, felt like the underdog at this final.

"I woke up fairly worried, but
feel very relieved," Wood said.

"I really didn't know how
today was going to turn out. We had a pretty tough year, considering, we had
20 new kids and had a lot of inexperience and injuries.

"Had they not had that fall, I
don't think we could have made those points back. They're that good."

Smith-Boyd said this year's team
was won of her best.

"This will go down as one of
my best teams ever. They're incredible," Smith-Boyd said. "They've
just worked so hard and have fantastic attitudes. I can't say enough good
things about them."

CLASS B: Holland Christian, last year's runnerup, took third place with a score of 712.1 at The
DeltaPlex. Chippewa Hills won with a total of 733.5, followed by Chesaning
(728), and Holland Christian. Sparta
was sixth with 684.9.

CLASS C-D: Breckenridge won its
third straight Class C-D title, sixth overall, with a total of 708.1 points.
It was followed by Hudson (696.8),
Pewamo-Westphalia, last year's runnerup, (683.7), Michigan Center
(632.5), Colon (623), Gobles (609.9), Shelby (604), Brown
City (575.5), Flat Rock
(573.3) and Montague (568).