BANGOR – Before each performance at the regional and state championships this year, the Washington Academy cheerleading team has chanted the name of longtime coach Laurie Schoppee.

Schoppee, who has said this would be her last season coaching the Raiders of East Machias, went out on top – with her first Class C state championship.

The 12-year coach finally got her Class C state title Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium as the Raiders scored 137.5 points to claim the program’s third state championship and first since 1994.

“To know that we can win it for her, our friends, our fans, is great,” WA junior Brittany Bigger said. “We had the routine, we had the team, we had the skills. We just needed to do it.”

Houlton, the 2004 and 2006 state champ, finished second with 133.5 points.

St. Dominic of Auburn was third with 123.1 and Traip of Kittery took fourth with 121.5.

Those four teams made up the final round, which was culled from the top four Eastern Maine and four Western Maine finishers at the Jan. 27 regionals.

WA, Houlton, and St. Dominic will move on to the New England championships on March 17. It is the first time Maine cheerleading teams will participate in New Englands.

While winning a title was sweet, it hasn’t changed Schoppee’s mind to resign.

“I’m done,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a good way to go out. My kids are getting into things and my family has to come first, although I will miss this.”

The Raiders didn’t make any changes to their storm-themed routine between the regional and Saturday’s competition. Instead, they worked on performing without mistakes.

“We wanted to focus on [being] perfect,” Schoppee said. “We knew we had the difficulty, we just needed to make it absolutely perfect. The kids just really worked hard.”

WA’s opening stunt sequence made a big impression, with three stunt groups transitioning between a variety of one-legged moves while the bases rotate and press the flyers up and down.

But it’s the Raiders’ final move, a toe-touch basket toss that sends flyer Bigger about 30 feet in the air, that awes the crowd – and, obviously, the judges.

“It was pretty much for the crowd,” said Bigger, who weighs all of 87 pounds. “We’ve had so much support, with all the people coming to our competitions. … The first couple of times I did it, I fell on my head. But I just kept practicing.”

The rest of the Washington Academy team includes Caylin Beaudoin, Letitia Bellows, Rebekah Cox, Marci Hatt, Shawn Leighton, Katrina McCormick, Ashley Noyes, Gabrielle Rushforth, Arianna Sanborn, Saxon Schmauderer, Colin Wagner, Dylan Wright, Caissie Nevala, and Katherine Veader.

The Raiders scored a 131.2 in the first round.

Houlton saw a 13-point jump between rounds. Two of Houlton’s stunts fell in the first round, but the Shiretowners cleaned up their difficult routine for the final.