Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADING: A change for the better for Madison

BY BILL STEWART Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- The Madison cheerleading team tweaked its routine, adding a bit more difficulty, and came to the Augusta Civic Center with one goal in mind.

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GIVE A CHEER: The Mt. Blue Cougars perform their routine during the Eastern Maine Class A cheering competition on Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

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REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Eastern A
Lewiston 155.5, Bangor 147.2, Brewer 146, Edward Little 132.9, Hampden 127, Oxford Hills 116.2, Cony 111.1, Mt. Ararat 110.4, Lawrence 109.6, Mt. Blue 108.3, Erskine 105.2, Brunswick 95.6.
Eastern B
1. Ellsworth 145.7, 2. Hermon 143, 3. John Bapst 130.6, 4. Old Town 124.7, 5. MDI 112.8, 6. Presque Isle 112.8, 7. Nokomis 111.6, 8. Caribou 106.7, 9. Waterville 105, 10., Washington 101, 11. Foxcroft 96.1, 12. Oceanside 95.5, 13. Mt. View 93.6, 14. MCI 82.9
Eastern C
1. Dexter 134.6, 2. Central 133, 3. Sumner 129, 4. Orono 125.7, 5. Houlton 123.2, 6. Calais 110.9
Class D East/West
1. Central Aroostook 125.5, 2. Woodland 111.2, 3. Deer Isle-Stonington 109.6, 4. Buckfield 105.6, 5. Penobscot 105.5, 6. Bangor Christian 98.3, 7. Washburn 97, 8. Machias 96.4, 9 Jonesport-Beals 94.6, 10. Rangeley 84.9, 11. Ashland 80.8, 12. Fort Fairfield 79.4
Western A
1. Biddeford 155.9; 2, Marshwood 154.2; 3. Noble 145.9; 4, Scarborough 139; 5, Gorham 137; 6, Thornton 127.9; 7, Massabesic 122.8; 8, Sanford 122.4; 9, Bonny Eagle 121.3; 10, Portland 109.1; 11, Kennebunk 108.2; 12, Deering 105, 13, Westbrook 103.8; 14, Windham 102.5; 15, So. Portland 89.3.
Western B
1. Medomak Valley 142.9; 2, Leavitt 134.6; 3, Wells 131.7; 4, Mountain valley 123.9; 5, Gray-New Gloucester 114.5; 6, Morse 113.3; 7, Oak Hill 111.8; 8, Gardiner 108.4; 9, Spruce Mountain 107.4; 10, Greely 99.8; 11, York 98.8; 12, Freeport 91.5; 13, McAuley 86.4; 14, Winsow 79.1; 15, Lake Region 77; 16, Lincoln 70.9.
Western C
1. Lisbon 122.1, 2. Madison 117.8, 3. Monmouth 103, 4. St. Dominic 102.4, 5. Boothbay 92.7, 6. Traip 88.9, 7, Sacopee 86.7; 8, Dirigo 83.3; Old Orchard Beach 82.5

"We wanted to make states," Madison coach Amber Douvielle said. "We came in and wanted to really step it up."

The Bulldogs did just that, finishing second at the Western C championships Saturday morning.

Lisbon won the Western C title with 122.1 points while Madison finished with 117.8. Monmouth was third with 103 while St. Dominic (102.4), Boothbay (92.7) and Traip (88.9) followed.

"We were expecting to do good, but not this good," Madison captain Crystal DaCosta said. "We've struggled before and now we're regional runner-ups. It's pretty amazing."

Lewiston followed up its Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship with the Eastern A title.

The Blue Devils -- the defending Class A state champs -- weren't perfect, but judges rewarded their difficult routine. They finished with 155.5 points. Bangor finished second with 148.2, followed by Brewer (147), Edward Little (133.9), Hampden (137) and Oxford Hills (116.2)

Cony finished seventh with 111.1 points while Lawrence was ninth with 109.6.

"I think we are a little bit anxious (Saturday)," Cony coach Erin Eldridge said. "Top six was definitely our goal. I think if we hit our routine we would've had a shot. But they did an excellent job. Cony has come a long way."

Madison surprised the Western C competition with a strong performance, which came on the heels of a fifth-place finish at the Mountain Valley Conference championships.

"The MVC's were not good enough," Douvielle said. "We had to step it up. We added difficulty to the stunts and we worked on cleaning up the routine. We really wanted to get to states, and we made it. It was a good day."

It was also a long day for the Bulldogs, who were the second to last to perform. The performance, however, proved well worth the wait.

"We had to wait a long time," Douvielle said. "That was hard. It was a long, long wait."

DaCosta said the Bulldogs tried to stay calm as they watched their competition.

"We were relaxed," she said. "We just got focused. We were confident."

Like Madison, Monmouth also changed up its routine to qualify for the Class C state championships. The Mustangs, the defending Western C champs, overhauled their routine Saturday.

"Go big or go home, that was our motto," captain Molly Plossay said.

They changed their routine after freshman Kaylee Sr. Pierre fell and injured her nose during practice Friday night.

"She was the main base on one of our stunts, so we had to make some switches," Monmouth coach Michael Gilbert said. "We also changed our dance and stunts. We met the goal. We wanted to go top three, and we did that."

Added captain Lillian Kaplan: "We tweaked a few things. We made some changes and pulled together as a team."

Elsewhere Saturday, Ellsworth won the Eastern B title at the Bangor Auditorium while Nokomis (seventh) and Waterville (ninth) narrowly narrowly missed a state championship invite. The top six in each regional event qualifies for the state championships.

"It wasn't our day," Waterville coach Melissa Burila said.

Central Aroostook won the Class D East-West title while Dexter earned the Eastern C crown.

Medomak Valley won the Western B title with 142.9 points while Leavitt was second with 134.6 while Wells (131.7) and Mountain Valley (123.9) followed.

Gardiner finished ninth (108.4) while Winslow was 15th (79.1).

Bill Stewart -- 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com