
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
REGIONAL CHAMPS — Members of the Central Aroostook cheering squad hoist the Eastern Class D championship plaque Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium after the Panther beat out nine other squads for the title. CAHS will look to win its third consecutive state Class D crown at the state competition Feb. 6 in Augusta. Team members include, from left, Laken Kingsbury, Lexi Brewer, Sarah Michaud, Brittni Mosher, Lellie Stitham and coach Sami Allen.
Sports Editor
BANGOR —Initial reactions can often be deceiving. Just ask members of the Central Aroostook High School cheering squad.
After the Panthers completed their routine Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium, several of the cheerleaders were hanging their heads, with tears in their eyes, thinking they had blown their shot at defending their regional crown.
Compounding the situation, the final scores for the Class D event were not unveiled until 45 minutes had elapsed, due to the competition finishing well ahead of schedule. That delay gave the Panthers even more time to worry and wonder where they would finish.
So imagine the Panthers’ reaction when CAHS was announced as the Class D champions.
“We knew we were strong, but we did not give our best performance,” CAHS coach Sami Jo Allen said. “We had a stunt that did not go up, and it has always gone up, so that added to the drama for sure.”
The results from the Class D competition were: 1, Central Aroostook, 115.4; 2, Deer Isle-Stonington, 100.5; 3, Buckfield, 98.3; 4, Bangor Christian, 90.6; 5, Schenck, 85.9; 6, Machias, 84.2; 7, Fort Fairfield, 83; 8, Rangeley, 80.9; and 9, Jonesport-Beals, 80.1.
The top six squads earned the right to compete at States, Feb. 6 at the Augusta Civic Center.
“I honestly did not think we had won it,” said junior Kyle Donahue, “My one-man [stunt] is like the big part of the routine, and when that didn’t go off, I was afraid I had lost it for the team.”
The one-man stunt involves Donahue lifting one of the cheerleaders up into the air without the assistance of his fellow cheerleaders. Despite having that stunt not go off, Saturday’s performance featured no deductions for the Panthers. Still, coach Allen knows that her team will have to do better if they hope to win States for the third straight year.
“This is the first time we have ever struggled with stunts,” Allen said. “So we will try to clean that up a bit before States. There is so much pressure on this squad because we only graduated one senior from last year’s state championship team.”
“We really wanted to do well and we knew all the teams were going to be gunning for us,” Sarah Michaud said. “We have a lot of critiquing to do on our routine before States.”
“I thought we were only going to be runners-up because the [Deer Isle-Stonington] Marriners were very good,” said Brittni Mosher. “We have a lot of new people this year and we have been pushing it really hard this year.”
The Panthers started working on their team in November and spent two hours a day, six-days a week honing their routine.
“I like the pressure,” Mosher said. “Coach doesn’t like to have us watch the other teams perform, because she doesn’t want us to be nervous. I like watching them because it pushes me to work even harder.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
FIRST-PLACE — Central Aroostook captured the Eastern Class D cheering championship Saturday in Bangor. Team members include, front row from left, Laken Kingbury, Sarah Michaud, Brittni Mosher and coach Sami Jo Allen; middle, Lexi Brewer, Rachel Donovan, Kyle Donahue, Whitney Klein and Kellie Stitham; and back, Mariah Brewer, Kayla DeMoura and Patricia Donovan.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
AIR TIME — Kyle Donahue of the Central Aroostook Panthers fully extends during this jump in a routine held at Saturday’s Eastern Maine Championships. CA defended its title in the Class D event.