Area cheerleaders win national titles Hard work fuels team chemistry

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BANGOR – Four years ago, Leslie Tuell woke up with a dream.

Tuell, the owner and instructor at Classic Cheering in Bangor, had watched a national cheerleading competition on ESPN the night before.

“I woke up the next morning and thought, ‘we’ve got kids in this area who can do that,'” Tuell said.

Tuell’s dreams for her students came true when her Classic Cheering Elite squads earned two national titles and a runner-up award at the World Spirit Federation East Coast Challenge national championship Dec. 1-2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, N.J.

Katee Stearns of Orrington, a sophomore at John Bapst Memorial High School, also captured an individual title in the senior (grades 10-12) dance division.

Classic Cheering Elite won championships in the senior and junior (grades 6-9) pompon divisions and placed second in the senior jazz/funk division.

In the pompon division, the emphasis is on synchronization and visual effect. Pompons must be used during 80 percent of the 2-minute, 30-second routine. In the jazz-funk division, the emphasis is on dance movements, synchronization and technique. No props are allowed.

Some 125 teams competed in 10 divisions at the national championships.

A total of 35 girls from Bangor, Brewer, Corinth, Eddington, Ellsworth, Hampden, Holden, Lamoine, Levant, Mariaville, Orrington, Surry and Winterport participated on the Classic Cheering Elite teams.

It was the fourth year Classic Cheering Elite teams have competed at the national level. Tuell said that although previous teams had held their own at the nationals, the work ethic and teamwork of this year’s squads made the difference.

Amy Bell, a freshman at Bangor High School and a member of the junior team, agreed.

“We all work as a team. We’ve all become best friends,” she said.

Kelley Pinkham of Orrington, a senior at John Bapst, added that the hard work helped the team develop chemistry.

“We worked a lot harder, and more often, and the routine got a lot smoother,” Pinkham said. “The big thing with this team was that we were a lot closer and got along better.”

The girls have been working together since June, when Tuell held tryouts for the squads. Since then they have practiced together one day per week, and two days per week in the month before the nationals.

“We were up against teams that practice together five days a week,” Tuell said. “So we really have to work hard when we’re together.”

Gina Garveline, a freshman at Bangor and a member of the junior team, said many of the squads from larger programs around the country overlooked Classic Cheering.

“They didn’t think such a small team from Bangor, Maine, would perform so well,” Garveline said.

Hampden senior Sarah Cyr, who had competed at the national level before, said the ability of the team to improve on its weak points made the difference this year.

“We knew what we had to do. The routine had to be faster, and we had to have better transitions [between moves]. … We wanted to win really bad,” she said.

The girls raised most of the funds for their trip to Atlantic City by selling lollipops, holding a car wash and participating in a waitress night at Oriental Jade. They also received sponsorships from area businesses and donations from individuals.

Tuell added that many of the girls devoted extra time to weightlifting and aerobics programs.

“You’ve got to be a top-notch athlete. It really is an all-around sport,” Tuell said. “It’s not like the days when I cheered.”

Tuell, who now lives in Glenburn, graduated from Brewer High School in 1976. She said that when she cheered for the Witches, stunts and gymnastic moves were “unheard of.” There were no cheerleading competitions, only sideline chants and halftime routines.

Now, cheerleading combines some of the most difficult aspects of dance and gymnastics. At competitions, judges rate the performers on technical points like leaps, jumps and turns.

For a leap, the cheerleader must leave the ground on one foot and land on one foot, covering a significant amount of horizontal distance in the air before landing.

There are several varieties of turns, such as a double pirouette, and the cheerleaders are expected to execute at least three in a row in synchronization.

For a jump, the cheerleader must leave the ground on two feet and land on two feet. Tuell said Classic Cheering Elite has developed its own signature jump, the toe-touch “flatback,” and uses it to conclude their routines.

For this jump, the girls straddle their legs above their heads while they are in the air. When they land on their feet, they immediately collapse onto their backs.

Tuell said her teams had used the toe-touch flatback at previous competitions, and this year some of their competitors started using the jump.

“When some of the big-name cheering teams start using your jump,” Tuell said, “you know you must be doing something right.”

Stearns, who joined Classic Cheering Elite this year, not only won the individual dance title but also was a member of both senior teams.

Competitors in the individual dance division were required to perform a two-minute routine including styles of dance such as ballet, jazz, funk and hip-hop.

“It was an amazing experience,” Stearns said. “I was really proud to be representing Maine and the school.”

Stearns said she practiced her routine every day at home. Periodically, she would go to the dance studio and consult with Tuell about music and choreography.

Stearns said she tried out for Classic Cheering Elite at the suggestion of friend and Classic Cheering teammate Tiffany Mayhew.

Tuell said she approached Stearns about developing an individual routine because of her already extensive experience as a dancer.

Stearns has been taking dance lessons since she was 3 and cheerleading since she was in sixth grade.

“Dancing has been my first love since I was little,” Stearns said. “My dream is to be a professional dancer.”

The girls are all cheerleaders for their respective high schools and middle schools. They will take a break from the Classic Cheering Elite team during the winter scholastic sports season, when they will be preparing for cheerleading competitions with their school teams and cheering at basketball games.