After finishing third and second in their first two competitions the Houlton varsity cheerleaders took first place in the Eastern Maine Class C Competition on Jan. 26 in Bangor. After a relatively moderate start this year, Houlton’s cheerleaders jump-started their season when it counted and brought the Eastern Maine banner back to the Alumni Gymnasium, in what seems to be a bi-yearly occurrence over the past decade. The Houlton squad squeaked past Washington Academy by 0.4 points with a score of 132.2.
The squad, who has seemed upset at times with how they are performing their routine this year, was ecstatic about how they competed in the regional meet.
“We felt it was the best we have done [the routine] and no matter how the competition turned out we all felt wonderful about it,” explained senior Tiffany Bossie.
Houlton is now preparing to head to the Augusta Civic Center for Saturday afternoon’s state competition. The seniors, who have plenty of experience at the state level, know that even though they performed very well at Easterns, they must perform even better if they want to take home another state title.
“We need to be able to do the routine better than last weekend,” said senior Ashlee McClure, “We know that four-tenths of a point was a good win, but we need to have a comfortable lead for the upcoming weekend.”
Houlton has been plagued by an outbreak of illness and injury since the weekend they brought home the Eastern title. With numerous girls becoming sick over the last week, and a recent ankle injury at practice Monday, you would assume that the squad would have lost some of their confidence and spirit. However, the Houlton cheerleaders have not been phased by these distractions and continue to work hard every day at practice to clean up their routine.
“The attitude of the team right now is positive,” explained Bossie. “We’re having fun with it. When judges see us having fun while doing our routine, they have fun watching us.”
The squad, who has seemed upset at times with how they are performing their routine this year, was ecstatic about how they competed in the regional meet.
“We felt it was the best we have done [the routine] and no matter how the competition turned out we all felt wonderful about it,” explained senior Tiffany Bossie.
Houlton is now preparing to head to the Augusta Civic Center for Saturday afternoon’s state competition. The seniors, who have plenty of experience at the state level, know that even though they performed very well at Easterns, they must perform even better if they want to take home another state title.
“We need to be able to do the routine better than last weekend,” said senior Ashlee McClure, “We know that four-tenths of a point was a good win, but we need to have a comfortable lead for the upcoming weekend.”
Houlton has been plagued by an outbreak of illness and injury since the weekend they brought home the Eastern title. With numerous girls becoming sick over the last week, and a recent ankle injury at practice Monday, you would assume that the squad would have lost some of their confidence and spirit. However, the Houlton cheerleaders have not been phased by these distractions and continue to work hard every day at practice to clean up their routine.
“The attitude of the team right now is positive,” explained Bossie. “We’re having fun with it. When judges see us having fun while doing our routine, they have fun watching us.”
