BANGOR – For a program with the tradition that Houlton High School cheerleading has, the Shiretowners’ previous two competitions this season have been somewhat of a disappointment.

That was erased Saturday in the Eastern Maine Class C regional competition at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Shires edged Washington Academy of East Machias by just four-tenths of a point to capture the regional crown with a score of 132.2, while the defending Class C state champion Raiders were second.

Sumner of East Sullivan finished third with 121.4 points as all three teams, along with top-6 finishers Orono (117.6), Dexter (106) and Calais (104.6) all advanced to the Feb. 9 state championships, which will be held at the Augusta Civic Center.

Central Aroostook led the way in the Class D competition, which features both the Eastern and Western Maine teams. The Panthers of Mars Hill scored 124.5 points to beat out runner-up Machias (117.4) and Bangor Christian, which was third with 112.9 points.

The top eight Class D teams move on to states, which means Deer Isle-Stonington (112.6), Buckfield (103), Katahdin of Stacyville (95.1), Jonesport-Beals (94.2) and Rangeley (93.4) will all compete again in two weeks.

Houlton took third at the Penobscot Valley Conference Small School competition on Jan. 12. Almost a week later, the Shires were second at the Aroostook League competition.

Not good enough, the Shiretown seniors said, for a program that won the Eastern Maine Class C title in 2006 and finished second to Washington Academy last year.

“We knew that we had the material for a winning routine,” said Laurel Hill, who captains the Houlton team with Ashlee McClure, Brittany Hill and Tiffany Bossie. “We have an extremely young team and they had to get used to the atmosphere of a competition. The difficulty was there, we just had to come out clean.”

Houlton’s fast-paced routine, which had four stunting groups early, has a very showy section near the end in which a four-element pyramid morphs into a five-element pyramid.

“We need all 18 of us to do every part of our routine,” Bossie said. “Our pyramid can’t go up missing one person. We like to have the difficulty.”

The rest of the Houlton team is made up of Justine Anderson, Amber Carmichael, Ashley Cleary, Danielle Daigle, Nikki Eastman, Jennifer Farrar, Brianna Fowler, Marcy Hernandez, Amber Hyman, Taylor Lindsay, Meghan Maker, Kirstien Mayo, Ashlee McClure, Margaret Moody, Brandon Murphy, and Laura Schools.

The Raiders, who like the Shires are consistently among the top teams in the state, have just eight back from last year’s state-title team, including flyer Brittany Bigger, who performs a basket toss in which she gets about 30 feet in the air. The move has become a fan favorite over the years.

In Class D, the senior-laden Panthers were excited with their finish this year, considering they were the runners-up last year and came in third at the state championships later that season. It was the first regional title for CAHS since 2002.

“This is one of the biggest groups of seniors they’ve had and we’ve all been there all four years,” said Latisha Neece, who along with Ashley Brewer, Shelby Hallett, Miranda Levesque, Shannon Michaud and Michelle Tweedie make up the senior class. “We’ve all worked so hard for this. It’s been a long time coming.”

Central Aroostook had two tumblers, which made the Panthers one of the few Class D teams with more than just forward rolls. The Panthers have just one dance section which left a lot of time for complex one-legged, extended stunts. CAHS also did single-twist dismounts out of every stunt.

“It’s a very full, packed routine,” Brewer said. “It’s nonstop and that’s what makes it so hard.”

The rest of the Central Aroostook team includes Kyle Donahue, Rachael Donahue, Rachel Donovan, Kaila Foster, Kassandra LeClaire, Sarah Michaud, Brittni Mosher and Ariel Nappi.

Machias climbed from fourth last year to second place this year. Defending state champion Fort Fairfield, which graduated most of its 2007 team, did not attend Saturday’s competition.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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