Hermon cheerleading coach Lisa Pratt crouched off to the side of the competition mat just before her Hawks were to perform in the final round of Saturday’s Class B state championships – with a piece of white paper toweling stuck up her nose.

Pratt got some laughs from the onlookers, but her tissue-up-the-nose moment was meant as a show of support for Cortney Hawes, a Hermon sophomore who suffered a bloody nose just moments before the Hawks were to perform their routine.

Hawes said nothing was going to keep her off the mat Saturday evening.

“It was like, just pack it. I gotta go,” she said after the awards ceremony, her nose still packed. “I didn’t want to let my team down so I had to suck it up.”

Hawes said she’s prone to nosebleeds, as some people tend to be, and sometimes gets a nosebleed once a week. In this case, Hawes was hit in the nose while Hermon warmed up for its final-round routine.

“It started gushing,” she said. “It just wouldn’t stop. … The officials said we couldn’t perform until it stopped. It never really did.”

Hermon was supposed to be the first team in the combined Classes B-C callbacks. The officials pushed back the Hawks to the end of the finals and Hawes performed with her right nostril packed.

Hawes said she didn’t have much trouble with her breathing, but performing with a packed nose was difficult in other ways.

“It was hard to smile and do facials because it hurts,” she said.

Hermon, which won the Class B state title in 2007, made the callbacks after finishing in a fourth-place tie with Rockland. Both teams had 141.3 points and tournament rules state, in that case, both teams would be called back for a total of five in the finals.

Both the Hawks and the Tigers performed well in the finals, gaining even more points than the first round. But Hermon had a 147.7 in the finals while Rockland had a 145.3, which gave the Hawks fourth place.

It was a good jump from the Eastern Maine Class B regionals in which Hermon finished sixth with a score of 128.2 points.

“That was our big goal,” Hawes said. “We wanted to get called back.”

County skiers make regional

Three skiers from Aroostook County high schools have qualified for the New England J2 Championships based on their results from the recent Sassi Memorial in Rumford.

Presque Isle’s Danni Anderson, who finished 20th in the girls 5-kilometer classical race, along with Finn Bondeson of Caribou and Carson Spencer of Fort Kent, who were 11th and 15th, respectively, in the boys’ 5K classical, have qualified for the New England competition.

The top 20 finishers in the Feb. 2 Sassi Memorial advance to the J2 championships March 7-9 in Jackson, N.H. Skiers who were born in 1992 or 1993 are eligible.

Fort Kent’s Vicky Bernard, who finished 24th in the girls race, is an alternate.

Also in the boys race, Evan Piccirillo was 31st, followed by Orono’s Nikolai Renado in 32nd place. Kevin Strid of Caribou finished 42nd. Orono boys finishers included Dan Lesser in 54th and Avery Cole in 55th. Josiah Carle, Kevin Pierce and Nick Mirabile were 57th, 59th and 69th, respectively. Hampden skiers Ethan Burke (58th), Dylan Porter (76th) and Mitchell Longfellow (92nd) also finished the race.

In the girls race, Danielle Cote of Madawaska came in 30th, while Hampden’s Molly Howe was 47th and Samantha Bartlett of Camden Hills in Rockport was 59th.

Hancock to sign with Pioneers

Skowhegan’s Melissa Hancock, who was named Miss Maine Field Hockey in December, signed a National Letter of Intent Monday afternoon to play at Sacred Heart University on a partial scholarship.

The senior sweeper played on four Class A state championship teams for the Indians, including last fall’s 2-0 win over Sanford. She had 12 defensive saves in four years.

Hancock has played on the elite Katahdin and Maine Event teams, participated in the National Festival and was named a regional All-American.

She plans to major in secondary education with a focus on history, and wants to play in the band and participate in choir at SHU.

Sacred Heart, which is in Fairfield, Conn., went 8-11 with a 4-3 record in the Northeast Conference last fall and the Pioneers fell to Rider 3-1 in the conference semifinals.

Camden Hills unveils banner

SAD 28 and Five Towns CSD celebrated their role in Sports Done Right when a banner was unveiled Friday night at Camden Hills High in Rockport.

The banner signifies the two districts’ accreditation in Sports Done Right, a University of Maine initiative that seeks to define healthy interscholastic athletic programs.

The ceremony was held before Camden Hills boys basketball game against Rockland. SAD 5, which is also a Sports Done Right district, includes Rockland.

Thursday’s speakers included Camden Hills athletic director Bill Hughes, SAD 28 school board member Tori Manzi, and Karen Hughes, the director of the Maine Center for Sport and Coaching, which administers Sports Done Right.

The MCSC is based at the University of Maine in Orono.

SAD 28 and Five Towns CSD were granted Sports Done Right accreditation on Nov. 7, 2007, along with SAD 71 (Kennebunk and Kennebunkport) and Augusta Public Schools. Those schools join SAD 5 (Rockland, Thomaston, Owls Head), SAD 51 (Cumberland, North Yarmouth) and Winthrop Public Schools as fully accredited in Sports Done Right.

Five Towns CSD includes the towns of Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport. SAD 28 is made up of Camden and Rockport.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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