BANGOR, Maine — The Orono High School cheerleaders on Saturday performed a routine they modified earlier in the week like they had been perfecting it all winter and were rewarded with the program’s first state championship in the sport.
Coach Leslie Tuell’s squad, which had won the Penobscot Valley Conference and Class C North titles heading into states, used a clean display of tumbling and stunts to the theme of “The Big Bang Theory,” to win the Class C state crown by five points over runner-up Dirigo of Dixfield at the Cross Insurance Center.
“We were so surprised but also so proud of ourselves,” said Orono junior Samantha Kenney. “We’ve worked so hard this year.”
Orono finished with 71 points while Class C South champion Dirigo amassed 66 points to win a tight four-way battle for second place. Central of Corinth was third with 65.8 points, followed by Sacopee Valley of South Hiram (65.6) and Houlton (65.5) rounding out the top five in the 12-school field.
“The biggest success for us this year is they truly are a family,” said Orono coach Leslie Tuell, whose team also received the Maine Principals’ Association Class C North sportsmanship banner just before receiving its championship award.
“I know a lot of coaches say that, but they really, really are. They pump each other up when someone gets down or if something’s not hitting they will figure it out as a group and then they will push themselves to do it.”
Orono reworked elements of its routine early in the week but performed confidently and accurately on the big stage.
“It was a lot of cleaning up,” said Orono junior Ashley Smith. “But everyone just pulled together as a family. It was amazing to see.
“But we made sure we stayed humble because it was anybody’s for the taking.”
Joining Smith and Kenney on the Orono roster were juniors Audrey Carroll, Amber Westley, Isabelle Bowie, Chase Bruton, Kaitlyn Kuwik and Hannah Gatchell, sophomores Sydney Stiehl, Tony Manev, Michelle Haverlock, Maddie Marks, Ashley Connole, Alexus Brown, Emily Innis, Becky Tocci, Riley Bowie and Ally Jones, and freshmen Jordan Bagley, Camille Kohtala and Audrey Smith.
Gage Alley is the assistant coach, with Molly Berry the manager.
“We didn’t have any seniors last year so we knew going into this season that we had a base to start from already, which helped a lot,” said Tuell. “We talked at the very beginning of the season about what we wanted to do, how we wanted to amp up our routine and things we wanted to accomplish this year.
“And honestly, I have no seniors this year either, so we’ll have to get the gears going and figure out what we want to do for next year.”
