Trentyn Roelofs, 9, took third place at the arena cross race in Baltimore.

By Judy Reed

Come this spring, Cedar Springs may have a champion dirt bike rider in their midst. And he’s only nine years old.

Trentyn Roelofs is a fourth-grader at Cedar View Elementary, and the son of Brooke Roelofs and Jeremy Robinson, and Brent and Sara Roelofs, all of Cedar Springs.

Trentyn started riding dirt bikes in March 2011 and took to it like a duck takes to water. He was soon riding it for more than fun, and finished second in the state in his division that year. He’s now on to a bigger bike, and has bigger aspirations—a national championship at the Amsoil Amateur National Arenacross Championships.

The Amsoil Amateur National Arenacross Championships is a renowned competition that pits the fastest amateurs from across the country in a day-long motocross showdown, from which 27 AMA national champions will be crowned.

Trentyn at the starting line at VanAndel Arena in Grand Rapids.

Trentyn has been riding his KTM 65 dirt bike in various qualifying races around the country to earn enough to points to race in the national championship in May in Las Vegas. He placed 5^th against some of the best riders in the nation at Worcester, Massachusetts in early January at the first round AMA Amsoil National Arenacross, and then third in Baltimore. He rode well in Grand Rapids, but crashed, and still came from last to 6^th place. He has one more qualifying race on Sunday, February 10, in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Brooke said that her son  is confident that his hard work will pay off and he will make it.

“Trentyn has been busy training indoors in Ohio on his off weekends since November and riding in the snow with studded tires at home preparing for these races,” explained Brooke. He is currently leading in points against 22 contenders in his age group, in the north region.

She said that the racing has allowed Trentyn to see parts of the country he has never seen before. “It has been educational for him to learn from the traveling he has done. He has enjoyed everything from small towns to enormous cities flowing with diverse people and surroundings,” noted Brooke.

But even with all the traveling, she doesn’t let it interfere with his schoolwork. “His racing usually ends on Sundays, and then its time to hit the road for the long ride home, twice making it back right when school was starting. But Mom always says, ‘School always comes first, motocross second,’” she explained.

Brooke said that Trentyn rides for Village Motorsports in Grand Rapids and welcomes the opportunity to represent the area doing what he loves—riding his dirt bike!

For more info on arena cross, visit www.arenacross.com.

Cedar Springs Youth Wrestlers have continued their winning streak week to week as the wrestling season goes on. Wrestling in three separate tournaments, wrestlers have been bringing home a boat load of medals and trophies that show their hard work.

On January 20, Byron Center hosted a tournament where Cedar Springs showed its winning colors, bringing home a total of 15 medals.

In first place were Landon Demorest, Ryan Ringler, Aaron Smith, Jordan Ringler and George Gonzales Jr. Second place finishers were Jackson Holloway, Keaton Klaasen, Tacho Gonzales, Logan Hull, and Allexis Gonzales. In third place were Pistachio Gonzales, Trevor Marsman, Aiden Bouwens, Reese Gonzales and Sam Couturier. Gavin Byxbe and Sergei Byxbe also brought home two third place finishes from a tournament held the same day at Central Montcalm for a grand total of 17 top finishers!

Wrestlers went on winning at the tournament held at Forest Hills Northern on January 27. First place finishers in that tournament were Austin Averill and Trevor Marsman. Second place finishers were Cody Averill, Logan Hull and Gage Gardner. Rounding out the bunch was Brandson Wood with a fourth place finish. These wrestlers continue to prove their strength, wrestling at tournaments where as many as 600 kids are registered to wrestle each week. Keep up the good work Red Hawks!

Veltkamp & Klein named Cedar Springs High Schools’ Student Athletes of the Month

Allie Veltkamp

Senior Allie Veltkamp was named January 2013 Student Athlete of the Month for the Varsity Girls Basketball.

Allie is a 3 sport, 2 year Varisty Basketball player.  Allie also excels in the classroom with a GPA of 3.981 and is a member of NHS.  Allie gives back to the community through participation in the Red Hawk Kids Club.

Coach Taylor comments “Allie has stepped up her game from her Junior year.  She is averaging 12 points per game so far this season.  She continues to be a positive role model for our program and in the community!”

Allie is the daughter of Chris and Ron Veltkamp.

Robert Klein

Senior Robert Klein was named January 2013 Student Athlete of the Month for Boys Varsity Basketball.

Robert is a 3 sport, 2 year Varsity basketball team member and is team co-captain.  Robert also excels in the classroom with a 3.587 GPA and is a regular on the honor roll.  He is also the captain of the Athletic Leadership Council and is a member of the Red Hawks Kids Club.

Coach Patin says” Robert is a great leader for his team; he leads not just in words, but in his actions as well.  He is a great person to be around, and it is a joy to coach him.”

Robert is the son of Jim and Maribeth Klein.

Finish third at Lakeview tourney

Sophmore Alex Jacobs in action.

In their first home dual of the season, the Cedar Springs wrestling team made short work of visiting West Catholic, defeating the Falcons by a 66-6 margin. The first match of the evening proved to be the most entertaining. Cody Oehme had to go overtime for a takedown at 130 lbs to pull out a well earned 6-4 win. The Hawks lost only one match the rest of the way, cruising to the win.

Saturday the team headed north to neighboring Lakeview where they won their first three duals. In round one the Hawks defeated Clare 46-28, then defeated an out manned Morley-Stanwood 60-6. The third match with host Lakeview was a close one. Going into the final match at heavy weight, Cedar held a slim four-point advantage. Teddy Edwards came through with a second period pin to seal a 44-34 victory.

The winning streak ended in round four as Cedar lost to Farwell 43-30 and tournament champion Montabella 48-30.

Head Coach Nick Emery, a former Cedar Springs wrestler and a 2001 graduate, was pleased with the effort. Despite voiding three weight classes, and having a starting lineup including four freshmen and four sophomores, they still improved their team record to 11-14.

Sophomore Teddy Edwards pinned his way through the tourney with 5 consecutive wins by fall to improve his record to 16-8. Oehme also continued his winning ways with five wins by fall to improve to 15-2. Junior Baron Lenardson recorded four pins out of five wins to go to 18-6 for the year. Robbie Peckham and Brett Bouwens also notched three wins each for the Hawks.

Finish third at Lakeview tourney

In their first home dual of the season, the Cedar Springs wrestling team made short work of visiting West Catholic, defeating the Falcons by a 66-6 margin. The first match of the evening proved to be the most entertaining. Cody Oehme had to go overtime for a takedown at 130 lbs to pull out a well earned 6-4 win. The Hawks lost only one match the rest of the way, cruising to the win.

Saturday, January 12, the team headed north to neighboring Lakeview where they won their first three duals. In round one, the Hawks defeated Clare 46-28, Then defeated an out manned Morley-Stanwood 60-6. The third match with host Lakeview was a close one. Going into the final match at heavy weight Cedar held a slim four point advantage., Teddy Edwards came through with a second period pin to seal a 44-34 victory.

The winning streak ended in round four as Cedar lost to Farwell 43-30 and tournament champion Montabella 48-30.

Head Coach Nick Emery, former Cedar Springs wrestler, and a 2001 graduate, was pleased with the effort. Despite voiding three weight classes, and having a starting lineup that included four freshmen and four sophomores, the Red Hawks still improved their team record to 11-14. One of the sophomores, Teddy Edwards pinned his way through the tourney with 5 consecutive wins by fall to improve his record to 16-8. Oehme also continued his winning ways with five wins by fall to improve to 15-2. Junior Baron Lenardson recorded four pins out of five wins to go to 18-6 for the year. Robbie Peckham and Brett Bouwens also notched three wins each for the Hawks.

Varsity cheer team during competition.

Loud, proud, and strong! What a way to start a season! The Cedar Springs High School Competitive Cheer Team was a bit nervous, as their second meet of the season was underway, on Saturday, January 12. Being a home meet, 15 teams competing, middle school and 5th/6th grade teams looking up to them, and the gym filled, the pressure was on!

Earlier Saturday morning both Cedar Springs Middle School teams took home first place medals in their respective divisions. The 5th/6th grade team had an outstanding performance and impressed the audience as they exhibitioned between the middle school rounds for the first time this year.

Middle School cheer took first place.

To complete the sweep, the Varsity Cheerleaders faced tough competition during the afternoon rounds. Sophomore Alyssa Alger reported, “Going into the competition, I was scared. I didn’t expect us to do well, but I’m glad I was wrong.” The Red Hawks were in first place after round one with a score of 220, superseding their personal goal of 215. After round two, they continued their lead by scoring 192.9, which had them going into the third round with a 10-point lead. “Round 3 can often be the nail bitter,” says Varsity Coach Anna Ramirez. “The girls have worked so hard at practice, but going into round 3 with a 10-point lead isn’t a guarantee. They still needed to nail it on the floor!”

After all three rounds of competition were complete, the Lady Hawks were victorious! Scoring 282 in round 3 helped to clinch the win with a final score of 694.9 over Sparta (684.78).

This year’s team is excited to see how far they will go. “People pushed their limits and brought a lot more to the mat than I was expecting,” reported senior, Nicki Luevano. This win could be the fuel the Lady Hawks needs to start their fire!

The schedule can be found at the school website, www.csredhawks.org, under the athletics tab. Or it can be downloaded from the Cedar Springs Post website, and click on Winter Sports Schedules on the right. Be sure to come out and support the girls at their next home meet, February 6, 6:30pm at Cedar Springs High School.

Northview Youth Wrestling Club hosted their annual Open/Novice Youth wrestling tournament at Northview High School on December 16, 2012. Over four hundred wrestlers showed up for the official kick off to the youth wrestling season. Nineteen of those wrestlers were from the Cedar Springs Youth Wrestling club and of those nineteen, fifteen placed top four to bring home medals.

Taking first place in their weight classes were Landon Demorest, Logan Hull, Ryan Ringler and George Gonzales Jr.

Second place finishers were Pistachio Gonzales, Tacho Gonzales, Keaton Klaasen, Trever Marsman, Reese Gonzales, Gage Gardner, and Allexis Gonzales.

Taking third were Sergei Byxbe and Sam Couturier.

Rounding out the wrestlers, in fourth place, were Chase Sarniak and Zoe Gonzales. It looks like the youth wrestlers are on their way to another sucessful season.

The Cedar Springs wrestling team has been busy with early season action. They earned a 57-17 victory over Forest Hills Eastern in the first ever OK Bronze dual meet. The Hawks are 1-0 in league action with a 7-12 record overall.

The wrestlers have been preparing for the league season with a number of Saturday tournaments and triangular meets during the week. They opened the season with a tough 38-36 loss to Lowell. The team then travelled to neighboring Tri-County where they went 2-2 with wins over Morley-Stanwood and Lakeview to finish third, then west to Fruitport, where they finished fourth, defeating the Muskegon Big Reds and Benzie Central and a fifth place at Comstock Park, where they wrestled well, but lost a close match to Division I power Rockford, then Grandville before blasting Wyoming Lee 78-12.

The young team is lead by only three returning seniors: captains Cody Oehme, Josh Champion and Brett Bouwens. Sophomore Zachery Wamser is leading the team with a sparkling 18-0 record at 160 lbs, while junior Baron Lenardson follows with a 13-6 record at 112 lbs. Sophomore Logan McGahan is 12-7, spending time at both 171 and 189 pounds. Another sophomore, Teddy Edwards, has chipped in with 10 victories, along with junior Jerod Vodry. Oehme is 9-2 at 130lbs with 8 pins. 189-pounder Alex Jacobs is also 9-2. Robbie Peckham and Bouwens both have 9 wins.

Wamser leads the team in wins by fall with 9, followed by Oehme with 8. Edwards (wrestling at either 215 and heavyweight) and Lenardson have 6 victories by pin.

The young team, which is improving every week, has 3 freshmen in the middle of the lineup who have combined for 20 wins: Jesse Empie, Michael Shelito and Anthony Topolski.

The team returns to action Wednesday night, Jan 9, vs West Catholic at 6 p.m. If you would like to catch the wrestlers in action, there is only one other home meet this season, Jan 23 vs OK Bronze opponent Northview. The next tournament action is Saturday, Jan 12 at Lakeview. Wrestling starts at 9 a.m.

Cedar Springs High School senior Connor Mora is taking his stellar cross country year all the way to the Foot Locker National Finals in San Diego.

Cedar Springs cross country runner Connor Mora finished eighth in Foot Locker’s Midwest regionals last Saturday. Photo courtesy of Foot Locker.

Mora finished eighth in the boys division at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship (FLCCC) Midwest Regionals last Saturday, November 24, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with a time of 15:09 in the 5K run. The winner was Jake Leingang of Bismarck, North Dakota, with a personal best time of 14:56.

The top 10 boys and the top 10 girls in Saturday’s Midwest race qualified to compete against runners from the Northeast, South, and West Regional meets in the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals, on Saturday, Dec. 8 at Morley Field, Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif.

Mora earned the distinction this year of being the 2012 MHSAA regional champion, Division 2 state champion, and he was named Mr. Cross Country for 2012. He’s been named all-state four times in his cross country career.

This past spring he also ran track, and was both the 2012 regional champ and 2012 Division 2 state champ in the 1600 and 800.

His personal best in cross country was a time of 14:54 at the Benzie Central regional meet.

Cedar Springs Senior Connor Mora with Cross Country Coach Ted Sabinas.

Connor Mora, a senior at Cedar Springs High School,  was recently named Mr. Cross Country by the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association. The award is given to the fastest senior boy across all the divisions at the state meet. Connor, who was the state champ in division 2, ran a 15:04 to earn him this award.

Connor was awarded a trophy and recognized for his great accomplishment at a banquet in Mount Pleasant on Nov 9. Congratulations, Connor on a prestigious award!

Also recognized at the banquet was Connor’s coach, Ted Sabinas, who was presented a plaque for being a nominee for Coach of the Year.