A year ago, the Houlton High School cheerleaders were Class C state runners-up and this year, they are hoping their base is solid for a return trip to the Bangor Auditorium.
But, the Houlton cheerleaders have two competitions that will evaluate their standings, leading up to the Eastern Maine Championships on Jan. 26.
This Saturday, the Houlton cheerleaders will be performing at the Penobscot Valley Conference Cheerleading Competition at Stearns High School in Millinocket.
“I am anxious to get this first competition behind us,” said returning head coach Mary Jane Cleary, who took a year off after guiding the 2006 cheerleading squad to a Class C state title. “It is good to be able to look at judge’s score sheets and see where our strengths and weaknesses lay.”
But, Cleary and company are just hoping to rise to the occasion and perform to their potential in the next few outings.
“We want to work together as a team and do our best,” she said. “Of course, it is competitive and it is fun to win. But, as far as looking ahead into the [competitive] season, we would like to place in the top six in the regionals and be able to compete in the state competition.”
In prior seasons, the Houlton cheerleaders have based their routine around a theme, but not so this year.
“There is no real theme,” explained Cleary. “It is all about demonstrating teamwork through our routine. The squad has decided to have a team photograph on their shirts with the caption “Me and My Gang,” which is in reference to one of the songs within our music.”
Each year, the Houlton cheerleaders are fortunate enough to have a visiting choreographer design their routine.
“It is something different that we haven’t seen before,” Cleary explained. “The stunts are extremely difficult.”
For example, one stunt is called a “full around,” which envelopes different sequences of moves and the flyers are staying up in the air longer than usual.
“This has taken some time to master,” Cleary said. “Two stunt groups have got it down, but one stunt group is working hard to get it. It is probably the hardest stunt that we have this year. The pyramid is different than previous years, but we still have five flyers in the air as it has for the last two years.”
The one thing the choreographer didn’t design … a dance. But, Cleary had solution.
“I had some of the girls that take dance get together and they came up with the dance,” she said. “The dance portion of the routine is last. As always, you want to finish the routine with high energy. With the music and the dance moves everyone seems to be having a good time and energy levels seem to stay at a good level.”
But, every good team sometimes struggles, and Houlton cheerleading has some obstacles to overcome before competing.
“We have six freshmen who haven’t had the experience of going to competition,” Cleary explained. “We have been working toward each person having confidence in the fact they know the routine and they will perform it to their best ability.”
Cheering on this year’s Houlton squad are seniors, Tiffany Bossie, Brittany Hill, Ashlee McClure and Laurel Ranck; juniors, Justine Anderson, Ashley Cleary, Nikki Eastman, Brianne Fowler, Amber Hyman, Kerstein Mayo, Margaret Moody and Laura Schools; sophomore Amber Carmichael and freshmen, Danielle Daigle, Jenn Farrar, Marcy Hernandez, Taylor Lindsay, Meghan Maker and Brandon Murphy. Manager for the team is junior Emily Gendron.
The next cheerleading competition for the Houlton team will be the Aroostook League Championship at Caribou High School on Jan. 18.
But, the Houlton cheerleaders have two competitions that will evaluate their standings, leading up to the Eastern Maine Championships on Jan. 26.
This Saturday, the Houlton cheerleaders will be performing at the Penobscot Valley Conference Cheerleading Competition at Stearns High School in Millinocket.
“I am anxious to get this first competition behind us,” said returning head coach Mary Jane Cleary, who took a year off after guiding the 2006 cheerleading squad to a Class C state title. “It is good to be able to look at judge’s score sheets and see where our strengths and weaknesses lay.”
But, Cleary and company are just hoping to rise to the occasion and perform to their potential in the next few outings.
“We want to work together as a team and do our best,” she said. “Of course, it is competitive and it is fun to win. But, as far as looking ahead into the [competitive] season, we would like to place in the top six in the regionals and be able to compete in the state competition.”
In prior seasons, the Houlton cheerleaders have based their routine around a theme, but not so this year.
“There is no real theme,” explained Cleary. “It is all about demonstrating teamwork through our routine. The squad has decided to have a team photograph on their shirts with the caption “Me and My Gang,” which is in reference to one of the songs within our music.”
Each year, the Houlton cheerleaders are fortunate enough to have a visiting choreographer design their routine.
“It is something different that we haven’t seen before,” Cleary explained. “The stunts are extremely difficult.”
For example, one stunt is called a “full around,” which envelopes different sequences of moves and the flyers are staying up in the air longer than usual.
“This has taken some time to master,” Cleary said. “Two stunt groups have got it down, but one stunt group is working hard to get it. It is probably the hardest stunt that we have this year. The pyramid is different than previous years, but we still have five flyers in the air as it has for the last two years.”
The one thing the choreographer didn’t design … a dance. But, Cleary had solution.
“I had some of the girls that take dance get together and they came up with the dance,” she said. “The dance portion of the routine is last. As always, you want to finish the routine with high energy. With the music and the dance moves everyone seems to be having a good time and energy levels seem to stay at a good level.”
But, every good team sometimes struggles, and Houlton cheerleading has some obstacles to overcome before competing.
“We have six freshmen who haven’t had the experience of going to competition,” Cleary explained. “We have been working toward each person having confidence in the fact they know the routine and they will perform it to their best ability.”
Cheering on this year’s Houlton squad are seniors, Tiffany Bossie, Brittany Hill, Ashlee McClure and Laurel Ranck; juniors, Justine Anderson, Ashley Cleary, Nikki Eastman, Brianne Fowler, Amber Hyman, Kerstein Mayo, Margaret Moody and Laura Schools; sophomore Amber Carmichael and freshmen, Danielle Daigle, Jenn Farrar, Marcy Hernandez, Taylor Lindsay, Meghan Maker and Brandon Murphy. Manager for the team is junior Emily Gendron.
The next cheerleading competition for the Houlton team will be the Aroostook League Championship at Caribou High School on Jan. 18.
