The Brewer and the Old Town cheerleading teams have established themselves as top contenders in the Eastern Maine ranks for the past several years, so it came as no surprise when the Witches and the Indians claimed the regional titles in Classes A and B on Jan. 26.

But the team that captured the Class C title – Orono – stunned its competitors by earning top honors in just the second year the school has fielded a team.

It may have seemed that the Red Riots’ success came out of nowhere, but for the girls who toiled away at 6 a.m. practice sessions, the result was just an affirmation of their hard work.

The Red Riots, who first-year coach Suzanne Lewis admitted surprised even themselves at the regionals, will try to cap their improbable season with a state championship on Saturday.

And Brewer and Old Town will be looking to improve on last year’s finishes and bring a title back to Eastern Maine.

Orono: 6 a.m. fun

Orono junior captain Sarah Scott said she was a bit skeptical when Lewis broached the idea of 6 a.m. practices.

“I thought, this is going to be crazy. We’ll have to get up for practice, and then go to school afterward. We’re gonna die,” Scott said.

Lewis wanted the Riots to meet at the Old Town-Orono YMCA at that bleary-eyed hour three days a week in order to take advantage of that facility’s large gymnastics mat.

The Riots also practiced every day after school. Given that the Orono High gym is busy with other sports practices during after-school hours, the early sessions provided a valuable opportunity for extra practice.

“It turns out those [early] practices were really beneficial,” Scott said. “I’m really glad we had them. It was fun – and we went to Dunkin’ Donuts after.”

Sarah Carlisle, another junior captain, said the team enjoyed the creative approach of Lewis, who was Orono’s assistant coach last year.

“[The extra practice] was hard to get used to, but we kept going because it’s fun. … Our coach has been really great,” Carlisle said.

Lewis developed the team’s routine around the theme of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and gave her talented tumblers plenty of freedom.

The Riots boast five accomplished tumblers, an unusually large number for a Class C team. Those girls have participated in gymnastics for many years.

Lewis learned her coaching craft under longtime Washington Academy of East Machias coach Kathy Harmon. Lewis cheered for the Raiders from 1994-97 and was on three Eastern Maine championship and two state runners-up teams.

“Her [Harmon’s] coaching was excellent, so I try to think back and think what she would do. She would make it a priority for the kids to have fun,” Lewis said.

Orono’s other team members are Nicole Barclay, Michelle Benoit, Meagan Carter, Julia Duncan, Marcel Gallagher, Amaris Goodreau, Emily Gordon, Ashley Kunkel, Nadia Munson, Stacy Scott, Chelsea Sherman and Karina Zegpi.

Brewer: risking perfection

Brewer racked up 87.75 points out of a possible 100 to take the Eastern Maine crown – the highest score at Eastern regional in at least seven years.

The Witches’ success was due in large part to the difficulty of their stunts and tumbling.

Tackling the more difficult tricks is risky, and not only because of the danger of a miscue or a fall. Judges weigh the execution and overall perfection of the routine more heavily than the difficulty of the stunts.

But those are risks that coach Kristie Reed is willing to take with her team.

“We haven’t changed anything major with our routine [during the season] and we won’t. We’ll stick with it – perfection is what you need and strive for. If something’s working you don’t want to change,” Reed said.

Third-year coach Reed led the Witches to the Eastern Maine title last year and to runners-up honors in 2000. Last year Brewer was fifth at the state meet.

Senior captain Samantha Floyd said the Witches have the talent to improve on last year’s performance at states.

“We have talent in every section. … We’ve improved, and don’t really have any weak points. … We’d definitely like to get called back [the top four teams after the preliminary round advance to the finals]. But obviously, the goal is to win,” Floyd said.

Senior captain Jessica Deane added that the Witches have benefited from Reed’s experience as a college cheerleader and a gymnastics coach.

“The past few years [Reed] has focused on tumbling. … Any of these girls can do it now,” Deane said.

Reed cheered at Liberty University and taught gymnastics at a school near the Liberty campus in Lynchburg, Va.

Coaching comes naturally for the Massachusetts native.

“My mother was my coach in high school, so you could say I come from a coaching family,” Reed said.

Brewer’s other team members are Whitney Boudreau, Christina Bush, Amber Dumond, Holly Dumond, Riley Godley, Malori Hardin, Heather Hart, Melissa Jacobs, Jamie King, Kiley McCloskey, Sara Patterson, Stephanie Smith, Ashley Spencer, Monica Tardiff, Ashley Bean and Jillian Dougherty.

Old Town: a 2nd chance at states

As soon as Old Town had secured its second regional crown in three years, the girls set their sights on the state meet.

The Indians were second last year to Gorham after winning state titles in 1999 and 2000.

Senior captain Miranda Parsons said the memory of that loss has helped keep the team focused.

“Knowing last year we could’ve had first has given us more motivation – especially the seniors,” Parsons said.

The team has seven seniors.

The Indians have a new coach this year in Kate Loveless, a former cheerleader at the University of Maine and Oxford Hills High of South Paris. Loveless cheered for her mother, a longtime coach at Oxford Hills.

Parsons said the Indians have benefited from Loveless’ ability to integrate new stunts in their routine.

Loveless said she aims to match the difficulty of the stunts with her team’s ability.

“The past three years we watched tapes [of national competitions] and took our stunts from there, and tried to figure out how to do them. But having Kate show us new stunts meant we didn’t have to make any up. That’s much easier than going through tapes,” Parsons said.

“If the stunt is too difficult, I’d never put it in a routine. My main concern is to make sure the routine is clean,” Loveless said.

Senior captain Kailee Bradstreet said that Old Town has increased its intensity in practice over the past two weeks in an effort to peak for the state meet.

“Winning states [in 1999 and 2000] was amazing. … We’ve been motivated to get that [winning] feeling back. … The seniors have been trying to get the team members to focus on that, even if the practices might be long,” Bradstreet said.

Old Town’s other team members are Rachel Clukey, Sasha Cook-Coghill, Jeni Cunningham, Valerie Dionne, Jessica Ford, Meghann Foster, Stacy Goodspeed, Kimberly Hamel, Ashley Hogan, Heather Lonko, Angela Madden, Cheri McDonald, Whitney Randall, Amanda Shields and Avril Williams.

The state cheerleading championships will be held Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

. Class D: competition 8:40 a.m., finals 9:40 a.m., awards 10 a.m.

. Class C: competition 10:45 a.m., finals 11:40 a.m., awards 12:40 p.m.

. Class B: competition, 1:30 p.m., finals 2:30 p.m.; awards 3:10 p.m.

. Class A: competition 3 p.m., finals, 3:50 p.m., awards 4:10 p.m.