Crusaders ‘go all out’ for East B title Fort Fairfield repeats as ‘D’ champion

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BANGOR – John Bapst and Fort Fairfield will head into the state cheerleading championships as the top teams in Eastern Maine … again.

Both the Crusaders and the Tigers defended their 2006 titles in Classes B and D, respectively, in Saturday’s Eastern Maine competitions at the Bangor Auditorium.

John Bapst of Bangor scored 138.5 points to win its second straight Class B title.

Hermon came in second – the two teams have been 1-2 in three Class B competitions so far this winter – and Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B winner Rockland was third with 128 points.

Ellsworth, Caribou, and Foxcroft Academy rounded out the top six and make up the EM group going to Class B states Feb. 10.

In Class D, Central Aroostook of Mars Hill was the runner-up with 109.5 points, followed by Bangor Christian with 109.1 points. Machias, Buckfield, Jonesport-Beals, Schenck of East Millinocket, and Deer Isle-Stonington also qualified for states.

Eight Class D teams move to states because the classification is combined for Eastern Maine and Western Maine.

In both competitions Saturday, each team performed its routine once to determine the final rankings. In previous competitions this year, teams have performed twice with the average scores determining the winner.

“We had to go all out instead of saving something for the second round,” said Crusaders senior Jana Craig.

As pleased as they were to head into Class B states with another regional title, the two-time defending state champion Crusaders will likely take a hard look at their routine this week. Bapst received its lowest tumbling scores of the season so far with 4s and 5s out of a possible 10 instead of the 6s and 7s the team had recorded in previous weeks.

“We think we got really nailed on tumbling,” said Bapst senior Alison Bromley. “We could have scored a lot higher. We really want to pass 140 at states. The competition’s going to be a lot tighter there and we want to keep our title.”

To that end, coach Jen Babcock will likely rework the routine.

“We need to somehow make it much more clear what our tumblers are doing,” she said. “We can’t afford to go down in a category. Maybe I need to highlight [tumbling] more in the choreography.”

The Crusaders did add some more difficult elements, including more double-twist landings, in its stunts.

“Last week we had a deduction for a girl not making it all the way around so we were kind of nervous about doing it today,” Bromley said. “But we did it and we’re glad.”

The rest of Bapst’s team is made up of Brianna Cowan, Lauren Dooman, Kaili Davis, Alyssa Foley, Naomi Freeman, Melissa Glifort, Nikol Harris, Lauren Licata, Lauren Peavey, Sarah Moreshead, Jessica Perna, Kaili Quinn, Sheila Toomey, Amber Weaver, and Alexandra Wright.

Coach Lisa Pratt saw her Hermon squad’s scores take a big jump from their season best of 115.8.

The Hawks made some big changes in their routine last week, from changing a portion of their music to altering sections of their routine.

“We changed our dance, our opening, our last stunt; we changed our cheer completely,” Pratt said. “The girls had a fantastic week of practice. They brought it. They looked great today.”

In the Class D competition, the Aroostook County connection came through again for the Tigers and the Panthers as they repeated their finish at Class D states last year.

“We try to be close because we’re neighboring towns,” said Central Aroostook co-coach Sami Jo Allen, who gave Fort coach Kelly Bubar a hug after the awards were handed out.

Although the Tigers made it look easy with a fast-paced, showy routine and the most difficult tumbling elements of the competition, the team wasn’t sure at the beginning of the season how they’d come out in the end. That’s because they graduated eight seniors.

“We had to build all new [stunt] groups from last year,” said senior Elizabeth Tuck. “We were basically starting from scratch and went from there.”

The Tigers held up their stunts longer and with fewer shakes than other teams in the competition.

“I think we work hard and try to exceed the elements we’re supposed to have,” senior Gabrielle Bowker added. “At the beginning of the year the strength training we do helps us to be able to base those stunts.”

Fort Fairfield had three tumblers doing tumbling passes, which was rare among the Class D teams. Coach Kelly Bubar also incorporated total team tumbling – everyone did a forward roll in addition to the tumbling passes – for the first time.

“We really pushed that this year,” she said. “We wanted to incorporate it into almost every section of the routine. We wanted it to be very busy.”

The rest of the Tiger team includes Joshua Barnes, Page Beaulieu, Keiza Bernaiche, Melissa Clark, Simona Cremer, Jennifer Dufour, Janelle Duncan, Katelyn Enman, Mallory Ferrier, Sarah Hebert, Alyssa Kilcollins, Stephaine McIntosh, Ashley McNally, Kellie Osgood, Marcus Spear, Taylor Turner, and Rachel Worcester.

Central Aroostook graduated fewer cheerleaders from last year’s team than Fort Fairfield, but because of the five who graduated and two others who aren’t cheering this year, the Panthers have all new flyers.

So CAHS emphasized its dance.

“That seems to be our strong point this year because we lost our flyers,” said Allen, who co-coaches the Panthers with Danielle Doughty. “We tried to keep it simple as much as we can. We’re just trying to keep it to our level.”