WA Raiders claim second straight crown

AUGUSTA – Washington Academy cheerleading coaches Rianne Barker and Laurie Schoppee sat next to each other on the floor of the Augusta Civic Center Saturday evening, quickly making cell phone calls. Schoppee wiped away a few tears in between calls.

They both hung up fast enough, however, to hear the final results of the Class C state championship.

For the second year in a row, the Raiders of East Machias were winners – and Barker and Schoppee jumped back on their phones to relay the good news.

Washington Academy scored 137.6 points out of a possible 175 to roll over runner-up Monmouth, which had 131.7. St. Dominic of Lewiston was third with 127.1 points in a close competition with fourth-place Sumner of East Sullivan, which had 126.9.

In Class B, Poland took the state title over John Bapst of Bangor. The Knights scored 157.2 points to the Crusaders’ 151.9.

Four out of the 12 teams in Class C were called back and five in Class B were called back due to a tie. The final standings were based on callback scores.

The top three teams in each classification now advance to the New England Championship competition, which will be held March 15 in Woburn, Mass. Washington Academy will compete in the co-ed division because the Raiders have three boys on their roster.

The Class C crown was the fifth for Washington Academy and third since 2004.

The Raiders did it by coming from behind in the final round. The Mustangs had 133.5 first-round points, bettering WA by 3.7.

“Stunts weren’t good, tumbling wasn’t good, timing wasn’t good,” said Brittany Bigger, a senior co-captain along with Ashley Noyes. “But the second round, we had to do it a lot cleaner.”

In addition to an always entertaining basket toss that sends Bigger more than 25 feet in the air, the Raiders also throw in a series of complicated one-legged stunts, including arabesques, front stretches and heel stretches, and a hitch pyramid. Hitting stunts is critical as WA only has two tumblers.

The senior co-captains said the Raiders were driven to win after finishing second to Houlton in the Eastern Maine regional two weeks ago.

“We knew we could do it,” Noyes said. “We had the routine to do it. At Eastern Maine, that gave us more motivation.”

The rest of the WA roster includes Caissie Nevala, Frankie Griffin, Lily Evans, Arianna Sanborn, Katie Veader, Channing Jessiman, Shawn Leighton, Saxon Schmauderer, Amber Sode and Shelby Stanhope.

The Crusaders, who had won every Class B competition they’d entered leading up to Saturday, performed their routine to near-perfection in both state rounds.

But there was likely nothing they could do to overtake the Knights, who had a higher level of difficulty.

“They did a perfect job and really did the best they could. I was ready to go home after we performed, I was so pleased with them,” said Bapst’s Jen Babcock, who coached the Crusaders with Jessica Lawrence this year. “Poland had a tough routine, from what I could see in the back they did it perfectly. Obviously, the best team won. I really thought they did a great job.”

Poland, which last won a Class B state title in 2004, had five double-twisting dismounts and a lot of tumbling in their routine.

“This year I tried to give Poland a lot of difficulty with exciting stunts and a fast routine,” coach Amanda Scripture said. “I really looked at the score sheet and tried to play each category, and I think that helped.”

The Knights’ roster is made up of Cassandra Gerard, Katelyn Moreau, Amanda Stevens, Alex St. Pierre, Rebecca Duchette, Whitney Elston, Stephanie Baril, Kristen Watkins, Katie Smith, Whitney Pelletier, Emily Spencer, Courtney Gray, Taylor Girouard, Ashley Thurlow, Olivia Doyer, Natasha Johnson, Sophie Geelhoed, Stephanie Dionne, Anna Linkerch, Katelyn Reid and Brianna Morris.

Waterville finished third with 149.7 points.

Five teams were called back in Class B this year because of a first-round tie between Rockland and 2007 state champion Hermon. Both teams had 141.3 points.

Maine’s tournament guidelines state that if there is a tie for fourth place, both teams will be called back for a total of five teams in the second round.

The Hawks wound up edging the Tigers for the fourth-place spot in the finals, scoring 147.7 points to Rockland’s 145.3.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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