AUGUSTA — The first state titles of the 2021-2022 winter sports season were handed out Saturday at the Maine State Cheering Championships at the Augusta Civic Center.
Monmouth/Winthrop won the Class D title. It’s back-to-back titles for the Mustangs, who won the Class C title last year. It was the first state cheer championship in front of a crowd in two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A virtual meet was held last year, with teams taping their routines and sending video to judges.
“Two times in a row, during senior year, finishing it off strong,” said Monmouth senior Jake Umberhind. “After such a hard year last year, having no one watch us, publicly; this year, having everyone cheer us on, it’s been amazing.”
“We were pretty confident,” Monmouth senior Kyleigh Gowell said. “Practices have been pretty solid, with us hitting everything. We were pretty confident coming in.”
Monmouth has won 10 state titles, two in Class C (2002, 2021) and eight in Class D (three in a row from 1994-96 and four straight from 1998-2001, and this year).
Bangor Christian finished as the runner-up in Class D, followed by Central Aroostook and Penquis.
In the afternoon session, Lewiston won its first Class A title since 2017, and its seventh since 2011. Last year’s champion, Bangor, finished as runner-up, followed by Biddeford and Oxford Hills. The top four teams in each class are eligible to compete at the New England championships March 19 in Connecticut.
“We set a goal to win this year, we knew that was going to be challenging,” Lewiston head coach Matt Hanley said. “We did it. To put your eyes on a prize at the start of a season and keep pushing through all of the COVID issues and injuries. To have people quit on them, team members change and people on the floor (for routines) change and still keep pushing and pull it off in the end has been very rewarding.”
Lewiston jumps during its winning routine at the Class A state cheerleading championship Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, in the Poulin Auditorium of the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
The Blue Devils needed to perform a near-perfect routine, due to tight competition.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I was never more confident in a team than this one,” Hanley said. “Last night, I didn’t lose any sleep, because we’d come in and keep hitting and hitting and hitting (the routine) and doing what they need to do. They had me feeling confident for today. I knew they were going to hit it and do their job and they did that.”
The Blue Devils have won 11 state championships (1991, 2003-04, 2006, 2011-13, 2015-17 and 2022).
During the morning session, Medomak Valley won the Class B championship, while Lisbon earned the Class C title.
The Greyhounds clinched their first Class C state championship since 2019 and fourth overall (2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022).
“It feels great (to win), it feels great,” Lisbon senior Grace Bailey said. “I think this is the most prepared we’ve ever been in our routine. This year, we really came together as a family. All we have to do is hit (the routine) and believe in each other.”
The Lisbon Greyhounds celebrate after winning the Class C state cheer championship Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, in the Poulin Auditorium of the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“We tried our hardest and that’s all that we can do,” Lisbon senior Annika Golino said. “It’s been rough for the past two years with COVID and going virtual (last year), a lot of seniors graduating. We went from a 20 (person) team to a 10 (person) team. It’s been very hard. But we did our best.”
Dexter was the Class C runner-up followed by Mattanawcook and Winslow.
Medomak Valley’s state title is the program’s first.
“It’s been a long effort,” Medomak head coach Heather Simmons said. “We’ve been coaching since 2009, bringing the program from finishing dead last the year before we took over and it’s been just a long process. We’re just so thankful that we have the kids, the parents, the administrators that support us and our philosophies.”
Medomak performed a near-flawless routine in order to seal the state title.
“We knew that we had a difficult routine, and you just hope it’s your day to be flawless,” Simmons said. “We were perfect today, and that’s your most important thing, put your perfect (performance) out there and have someone beat it. Today, no one did.”
Hermon was the Class B runner-up, followed by Ellsworth and John Bapst.
The Augusta Civic Center was packed for Saturday’s championships, with fans near the rafters of one side of the bleachers, while the cheer teams resided on the other side of the arena. Both coaches and fans alike were thankful to have performances in front of fans again.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Lisbon head coach Nicole Adams said. “It was such a sterile feeling last year, just having an athletic director, a coach and a video camera (in the gym for the routine). To finally have your parents here, your friends cheering you on, that’s what cheering is. We feed off that energy.”
“It was pretty good,” Golino said. “Just to see the judges and feel the people cheer and yell for you, it’s amazing.”
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