Houlton cheerleaders edge Presque Isle for County title

14 years ago

 CARIBOU, Maine — A new Aroostook County cheering champion was crowned Friday evening at Caribou High School as Houlton captured the 2011 title. Presque Isle had won the local competition in both 2009 and 2010.
    Houlton edged out the two-time champ Wildcats by less than four points. Team scores for the event were: 1, Houlton, 74.65; 2, Presque Isle, 70.8; 3, Caribou, 69.05; 4, Central Aroostook, 67.15; and 5, Fort Fairfield, 37.2.
Individual and special team awards were also presented to a number of cheerleaders. Those awards were as follows:
All-Star Tumbling — Brandon Murphy, Houlton; Colby Endy, Central Aroostook.
All-Star Jumps — Courtney Lyford, Presque Isle; and Murphy, Houlton.
All-Star Stunt Group — Caribou.
Spirit Award — Fort Fairfield.
Best Dance Team — Presque Isle.
Best Team Tumbling — Central Aroostook.
Best Team Motions — Presque Isle.
Best Team Jumps — Caribou.
Best Team Stunts — Presque Isle.
For Presque Isle and Caribou, Friday’s competition was merely a prelude to Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference championships at Ellsworth High School. At the PVC meet, Presque Isle finished third with 116.5 points behind Hermon (128.9) and John Bapst (120.5). Caribou’s score at the PVC competition was not available.
Members of the Presque Isle squad, which is coached by Jolene Kinney, features senior Julea Gorneault; juniors Kelsey Buck, Kelsey Corriveau, Paige Doyen, Brittany Good, Courtney Lyford, Michaela Powers and Bonnie Zeng; sophomores, Megan Byers, Justena Cleveland, Rachel Dow, Mary Green, Kenedy Jarvis, Gabby McCrum; and freshmen Elena Ford and Kelsie Spooner.
Members of the Caribou squad, which is coached by Brandi Makepeace, include: seniors, Kyle McEwen, Hannah Saucier, Giulia Papini, Sarah Peterson and Elainee Norris; juniors, Natasha Bishop, Elsa Thibodeau, Jamie St. Peter, Ashley Clark and Jessica Devoe; sophomores, Jennifer Blaisdell, Sabrina Haney, Elizabeth Dionne, Gabrielle Ingersoll and Brianna Marte; and freshmen, Melanie Biggs, Sophia Maile, Rebecca Malm and Mariesa Sarmiento.
“The judges thought we had a very creative routine,” said Houlton coach Julie Dunn. “For the regional competition, we need to focus on making stunts solid, cleaning up dismounts and transitions”
Members of the Houlton squad include: seniors Brandon Murphy, Jenn Farrar, Danielle Daigle, Marcy Hernandez and Taylor Lindsay; juniors Jaclyn Hodgkins and Dakota Jenkins; sophomores Melissa Peabody, Crystal Nason, Erynne Howland, Lauren Bragan, Taylor Forest, Sarah Bouchard, Ashley McNinch, Maggie Russell, Kristin Farwell, Lizzi Flint and Mikaela Tuttle; and freshmen, Emily Dee, Katelynn McClure, Kaycee McClure and Jessica Thorne. The managers are Realeeanna Brooker and Maryah Ranck.
Members of the Central Aroostook squad, which is the defending two-time Class D state champs, include freshmen, Colby Endy, Brittany Drost, Megan King and Alexis Bradbury; sophomores, Laken Kingsbury and Lexi Brewer; juniors, Whitney Klein, Patricia Donovan and Kellie Stitham; and seniors, Kyle Donahue and Gabrielle Brewer.
“I am hoping to improve our stunt and dance scores before regionals,” CA coach Sami Allen said. “We are going to be changing a stunt sequence that has been giving us some trouble these past couple of weeks and also adding little parts to our dance to make it more difficult.”
With only six of the Panthers’ 11 team members returning from a year ago, the state title defense will be a bit more difficult this year Allen said.
“This team needs to believe in themselves and be confident every time they perform the routine,” she said. “They proved this on Friday night and were able to give two great runs at Caribou. I am very proud on how they performed. They are a very talented group of individuals.”
Members of the Fort Fairfield squad include senior Amanda Holton; juniors Lindsey Graves, Ashley Parady, Ashley Johnston and Saki Iwaya; and freshmen Madeline Martin and Shania Nordbrok. The manager is Autumn Coombs and the coach is Jennifer Berube.