T H E G R A N D R A P I D S P R ES S
SU N DAY, F E B RUA RY 1 2 , 2 0 17
B3
Behind the scenes Meet the Knights The roster: Hannah Blauw, Sydney Botbyl, Maddie Brown, Hailey Calton, Sophia Courtney, Aleena Delgado, Taylor Dombrowski, Rachel Duyst, Bri Elliott, Brittany Gentry, Jill Gorney, Natalie Green, Abbie Hammond, Nadia Hudson, Stephanie Kirby, Abbey Kuzma, Kaylee Lenartz, Brea Mull, Kaylee Peel, Kennedy Raad, Marissa Rosalez, Amber Sczesny, Abbie Szczepanski, Caitlin Watson, Megan Titus. The coaching staff Varsity coach Chris Hudson is in his seventh season with the Knights. Assistant coach Taryn Williams is in her fifth year and was a cheerleader at Caledonia and Davenport University.
Kenowa Hills coach Chris Hudson talks to his team during the Knight Invite on Feb. 4. The former East Kentwood football player is in his seventh season with the team. Mike Clark, MLive.com
TEAM OF THE WEEK
On the attack Former nose tackle brings football mentality to Kenowa Hills
Season highlights Kenowa Hills graduated seven seniors and has three on this year’s team. The Knights won the annual season-opening CCCAM Scholarship Invitational in Mason on Dec. 10. Kenowa Hills also placed second at the conference finals behind Mona Shores and took top honors in its own nine-team Knights Invitational on Feb. 4. Other highlights include breaking the school record for Round 1 score when the Knights posted a mark of
“That was a big deal because we graduated seven seniors from last year and everyone thought it was going to be a remake year,” Abbie Hammond said. “We set the record last year and broke it this year.”
“As seniors, we know what it feels like not to make it to state as we did our freshman year,” Green said. “The grade below us has never not gone to state. We don’t want them to know what it feels like.”
It’s a family “Two years ago, we started looking at it as our family instead of a team,” Hudson said. “Our parents pull together to make sure things happen for the kids. It’s a lot nicer when the kids are on the floor working for the person next to them that they look at as a sister, and their parents are in the grandstands getting along, doing things for each other like if you were family and not just as the kids on the team this year. It reaches to our alum, it reaches to our alum parents who still come back and make sure the team is being taken care of.”
The Knights open the postseason Saturday when they host a district tournament. Superstition “We had one girl whose mother made her a pair of socks for each competition,” Brittany Gentry said. “She would get really nervous if she didn’t have them, and her mom would bring them.” “One girl on the team when we were going to our first comp, her sweatpants string came out, and she still has it,” Brae Mull said. “She ties a knot and keeps it in her bag at every comp. It has been with us for every comp this year.”
Summer camp The Knights host an annual three-day summer camp to groom future cheerleaders. “We coach it, and it’s for our middle school all the way down to pre-K,” Brae Mull said. “We work on cheers and skills for the sideline season.”
— Steve Kaminski
FEB.15-19 ★Over 400 Boats Boatt s Boa ★ Motoryachts Mott o r yac Mo yacht htss To To 44 Ft! Ft! ★ Tubers' Tu b ers' Truckload Tub Tu Truckl ruckloa oa d Sale Sale ★ Ski & Wakeboard Wa keboard Equipment Wa E q uip ui p mentt uipmen
8046852-01
★ Twiggy Twigg y The Waterskiing Waterskiing Squirrel Squirrel ★ Antique A n titique que & Classic Claa ss Cl ssii c Boat Display
★Win Win Wi in Shore Mate Hydraulic Hydraulic Boat Lift w/Canopy w/Canopy from Lakeside Lakesi kesidde Motor Mottor Sports Mo Sports & Nelsons Nelsons Speed Speed Shop! Shop!
Kenowa Hills’ Taylor Dombrowski performs during the Knight Invite. Mike Clark, MLive.com
Team of the Week poll Vote for the Grand Rapids Press Team of the Week at mlive.com/grpreps (poll closes at 10 a.m. Thursday). This week, choose from the following teams: Forest Hills United swimming; East Grand Rapids hockey; Jenison boys basketball; Grand Rapids Christian girls basketball; West Ottawa swimming.
› Next Sunday, we’ll feature the Kelloggsville boys bowling team.
It is comparable to what football is doing. Clearly, we aren’t hitting the pads and we aren’t hitting each other. But we are lifting weig ht s. We a ren’t just stretching. “I would put my k ids into anyone’s conditioning program and, I think, m i ne c ou ld s u r v ive i n that world. I don’t know if everyone could do our world.” The hard work has paid off. The K nig ht s a re a young team with only three seniors, but they are hoping to make some noise at states again. The Knights won last weekend’s Knights Invitational, as well as the
season-opening CCCA M Scholarship Invitational in December. Kenowa took second at conference and set a school record for Round 1 performance at Hartford (236). Hud s on’s i ntere s t i n cheerleading was sparked when he at tended Ea st Kentwood. He said a group of football players would get together at the end of t he sea son a nd formed their own mini-team. They would cheer on the basketball team during the winter months in his junior and seniors years. “Nine of us on the football team decided to do something fun and completely different,” Hudson said. “Kentwood had a history of male cheerleaders. “In the football world, this person dominates that person. That’s how you win. You impose your will on them. But in cheering, you can’t. It’s subjective. You are keeping with yourself, which is a different world. But we attack it the same way. We attack practice and what we do on the floor just like there was someone across from you. So if we make mental mistakes, we do pushups and that kind of stuff.”
FEB. 15-19
2 00 OFF
$ . GRBoatShow.com
ONE WEEKDAY ADULT ADMISSION (Not valid with any other coupon)
(Not valid Saturday or Sunday)
GRP
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION $99OFFICE OFFICE VISIT $99 VISIT Expires 2/10/17
Your Valentine’s Package Has Arrived! • ED treatment by licensed Michigan Physicians • Our prescription medications work when the pills & herbals fail • See results on your first visit or NO CHARGE! • Works for just about every medical condition including diabetes, prostate problems and heart surgery
For more information and to schedule your private exam with our doctors call now 8007191-02
(616) 236-3200
Our Physicians Offer Personalized Solution To Fit Your Needs No surgery, no pills, no herbals. Private and discreet. $99 office visit includes physician examination, testosterone & PSA test and a test dose of medication.
Ask about our new, revolutionary Priapus shot! If you have Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, or Prostate Problems We can help.
Pinnacle Men’s Health ,1000 E. Paris Ave. SE, Ste. 246 Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Catch The Huge Show weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. Every Tuesday, an MLive sports reporter joins the show to offer a unique perspective on the latest sports news.
T U E S D AY S
GOOD WEDNESDAY THRU FRIDAY ONLY
W E D . & THURS. 3-9, FRI. 11-9, SAT. 10-9, SUN. 11-5
Listen to Huge’s Interviews
Bill Simonson
7981798-03
Main goal Kenowa Hills has one goal, and that’s getting back to the state tournament. The team’s three seniors, Gentry, Green and Kirby, said they know what it feels like to miss state, and it’s not good.
L 72nd ANNUA
Steve Kaminski skaminsk@mlive.com
The Kenowa Hills competitive cheerleading team has a football mentality, and that’s not by accident. Kenowa often has two meets per week this time of year, along with four other days of practices, usually running three hours a session. The Knights agree they are exhausted when Sunday morning rolls around. “He’s works us rea lly ha rd in practice, a nd sometimes, we really hate h i m ,” s ophomor e B r a e Mull said, laughing. “It’s like, ‘Why are you making us do this?’ “But after practice, you realize how much he has helped you at the end of the day.” Mull was referring to Chris Hudson, who has been the Knights coach the past seven seasons and helped them finish third in Division 2 last year. Kenowa sophomore Abbie Hammond said Hudson gets a grades report on his student-athletes each Thursday, and if someone is having an issue, Hudson will sit down with her and make sure the student gets help. But Hudson is a tough g uy when it c ome s to coaching, too. He played nose tackle for East Kentwood in the mid-1990s, so he knows about grueling competition and practices. He has incorporated his athletic background into his coaching style. “I would take my athletes against any of the athletes in other sports,” Hudson said. “You would be surprised at how hard our kids work at conditioning. We have a full practice where we are lifting people, throwing people, catching people, and then we condition for a half-hour. I pride my team and myself on a lot of the things that we do conditioning-wise.
236 at Hartland.
Read his huge opinion column online at
www.thehugeshow.net