BANGOR – The Bangor High School cheerleading team has sped things up for itself this year. And it’s made a big difference in its routine.

Debuting a much faster routine than in past seasons, the Rams roared back from a fourth-place finish in the preliminary round to take first in the Big East Conference championship Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

Bangor racked up 143 points, an improvement of about 14 points over the first round, for the team’s third conference crown in a row.

Hampden Academy, the leader heading into the finals, finished in second place with 132.9 points, and John Bapst of Bangor was third with 127.1.

Caribou (122.9), Old Town (113.8), and Brewer (111.1) rounded out the top six out of 12 teams called back for the finals.

Mount Desert Island, Hermon, Bucksport, Foxcroft, Nokomis of Newport, and Presque Isle also competed Saturday.

The Rams said one of their strengths this year is the variety of stunts and other elements – and the speed at which the routine is done.

“Last year there were a lot of stunts that held for a long period of time,” co-captain Amanda Mitchell said. “It seems like this year everything is one after another. It’s just fast. Really, really fast.”

The Rams had a subtotal of 138.9 in the prelims, but 10 penalty points knocked them back into fourth going into the finals. Bangor was penalized for a flyer’s head coming out of alignment in a basket toss and a twist dismount that came up short.

Other than working to eliminate those penalties, the Rams didn’t target one specific element of their routine during the break between the prelims and the finals.

“We just sort of went out and did what we had to do,” said co-captain Ashley Crockett.

Coach Stephanie Crane wasn’t surprised her team was able to rally in the finals.

“It was just doing what they’ve done since the start of the season. They nailed their stunts,” she said.

The rest of the Bangor team is made up of Hannah Bennett, Becca Bogan, Jocelyn Christiansen, Sarah Coleman, Kristen Cote, Elizabeth Hall, Erin Healey, Alise Jenkins, Caitlyn Johnson, Anmarie Reed, Katie Soo, Kristen Thompson, Jessica Tweedie, Karly Veda, and alternates Erika Rogers, Maria Coffin, and Katie Cox.

Hampden, which finished third last year, showed off one of the toughest routines at the meet. The Broncos had both prep double twisting dismounts (stunts done at the bases’ shoulder level) and arabesque doubles (dismounts that come from one-legged stunts with the bases’ arms extended), plus an innovative chair stunt in which two girls are carried as if sitting down.

It all added to the difficulty level – and of course to the important overall appeal category.

“We were the only team that had arabesque doubles, so we’re pretty proud of that,” said Hampden’s Amy Nadeau, who coaches the Broncos with Heather Fraser.

“And the crowd gets excited when they see that,” Fraser added.

Hampden scored 134.9 points for first place in the prelims.

The Witches, who inserted prep doubles into their routine, had a scary moment near the end of their routine when flyer Kiley McCloskey came out of a stunt awkwardly and was still on the floor for a moment. She walked off the mat and showed her toughness by completing the routine later without incident.

Brewer was second after the preliminary round, but 15 penalty points in the finals dropped them down to sixth.

The same group of teams will compete in next Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference title meet at MDI High School.

Bangor also won the junior varsity competition with 118.6 points in the final. Brewer was second with 106.4, followed by John Bapst (106.2) and Hermon (88). Presque Isle, Nokomis and Hampden also competed.

Central wins PVC championship

The Central of Corinth cheerleading team won the Penobscot Valley Conference title for Classes C and D Saturday at Stearns of Millinocket’s Wentworth Gymnasium.

Orono High finished in second place for the second year in a row, and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln was third.

The Red Devils, who were fourth last year, scored 132.8 points for their third PVC title since 2000. Orono had 121.1 points and Mattanawcook Academy finished with 112.2.

Houlton was fourth with 109.3, Penquis of Milo had 101.9, and Sumner of East Sullivan was sixth with 101.6.

“This is a very strong year for us,” Central coach Stephanie Chesley said. “We have a lot of talented kids.”

The Central cheerleading team is made up of Maddie Dunakin, Brooke Washburn, Whitney Lord, Carissa Adams, Lindsey Mitchell, Courtney Hersey, Samantha York, Emma Gray, Molly Chretien, Hilary Haney, Kalista Shaw, Beth Dauphinee, Andrea LaFlamme, Jessica Bubar, Danielle Richards, Shannon Clukey, Sara Asay, and Jon Griffiths.