BANGOR – It took a few seconds for the announcement to register on the faces of the Bangor High cheerleading team and coach Stephanie Crane.

But once the news sunk in – that the Rams had won the 2003 Big East Conference championship – the squad celebrated with mixture of surprise and elation.

Bangor took home its first conference title in Saturday’s competition at the Bangor Auditorium, with Old Town coming in second. The two teams had tied, but the Rams won based on a tiebreaker.

“It was a shock,” said Bangor captain Danielle Thompson. “It was a really big shock, but it was a good shock.”

Old Town and Bangor both scored a 74 in their final-round performances, so scorekeepers went to a tiebreaker. The Rams had an 111/2 based on scores for overall appearance and perfection of routine, while the Indians earned 11 points.

Caribou finished in third place with 73 points, while Brewer, the defending Eastern Maine Class A champion, was fourth because of a deduction. The Witches scored 761/2 points but lost five because of a stunt that apparently landed incorrectly.

Houlton, last year’s Big East runner-up, was fifth with 691/2 points. Nokomis of Newport (621/2) and Hampden (61) were sixth and seventh, respectively.

The seven teams in the final round were culled from an initial group of 13 Class A and B squads. Teams in the top 50 percent were called back to the finals.

About 1,500 spectators attended, which is by far the most in the event’s five-year history, tournament director Paul Soucy said. This was the first time the competition was held in the Auditorium.

The Rams were definitely surprised, although they knew there had been improvement from their preliminary performance, in which they scored 68 points, to the final.

“I just told them to sell it and that’s what they did,” Crane said. “They knew what they had to do and it wasn’t anything that we really had to fix. They just knew what to do.”

Among the key improvements in the finals was more height on a basket toss.

“It was wobbly, but we stuck everything,” captain Jenn Towne said.

The rest of the Bangor team members are Amy Bell, Khara Bennett, Ashley Crockett, Christy Davis, Sarah Eremita, Aimee Gerow, Sarah Glazier, Lindsay Hill, Caitlyn Johnson, Sara Maynard, Amanda Mitchell, Becky Rogers, Tiffany Sutherland, Stephanie Tracy, and alternates Holly Eaton, Tabby Farren, Erin Healey and Sarah Leen.

The Old Town team missed some crucial practice time last month because of the death of two of the school’s students. But the Indians still looked as sharp, especially in their tough dance routine.

“Compared to a lot of teams it’s definitely a fast-paced dance. We lack a little bit in other areas and that’s where we really pick up points,” coach Kate Loveless said.

The final result also left the Brewer team surprised, and searching for what went wrong.

The Witches had a slight lead over Old Town going into the final round, and performed even better in the finals. The Witches had scored 761/2 points before the deduction but the loss of five points dropped them to fourth place.

Brewer coach Kristie Reed said the judges wrote on their evaluation that one of the Witches’ flyers had landed on her side during a twist dismount.

Reed didn’t see the landing, but the team took the result in stride – after all, the Big East meet doesn’t have any implications for the Eastern Maine or state competitions.

“Definitely it was a better performance the second time and I was very pleased,” she said. “But Bangor and Old Town looked great.”

Orono claims PVC title

At Millinocket, the Orono cheerleading team scored 621/2 points to take first in the Penobscot Valley Conference cheerleading championships for Classes C and D at Stearns High School.

Penobscot Valley High of Howland scored 621/2 points to finish second among the five teams that were called back to the final round. Central of Corinth (581/2) was third, Sumner of East Sullivan (58) and took fourth and Mattanawcook of Lincoln (541/2) was fifth.

The Red Riots, who are coached by Suzanne Lewis, tied for second with Sumner last year. Orono was assessed a deduction in the finals but still managed to hold off the Howlers.

Orono’s team members are Sarah Carlisle, Sarah Scott, Michelle Benoit, Emily Gordon, Stacy Scott, Amaris Goudreau, Chelsea Sherman, Laura Benoit, Erin Whelden, Lyndsay Leger, Whitney Dwyer, and alternates Ashley Kunkel, Emily Brooks and Tracy Dyment.

Bangor Christian and Lee were the only Class D schools in the competition.

Raiders take DAC crown

At East Machias, host Washington Academy continued its dominance of Downeast Athletic Conference cheerleading, picking up its fourth straight championship in the DAC competition Saturday.

The Raiders were also issued a deduction, but their score of 71 before the points were taken off still gave them a comfortable win over second-place Calais. The Blue Devils scored 621/2 points.

WA, coached by Laurie Schoppee, had a stellar 75 in the first round. The Raiders team members are Meredith Guptill, Katie Miller, Jesstine Albee, Emily Huffman, Karami Ham, Ashley Ross, Amber Barrett, Kim Ross, Danielle Emery, Nikolay Musarskiy, Jared Ham, Jason Labonte, Whitney Drew and alternate Heather Burch.

Machias finished in third place with 581/2 points and Jonesport-Beals was fourth with 59.