The Bangor High School cheering squad reversed its fortune from a year ago to score a narrow victory in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A championships.
In Class B, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro captured its fifth KVAC title in the last six years and eighth crown in 11 years during the virtual competition in which teams videotaped their performances in their home gyms for subsequent judging.
The Rams, who lost to Oxford Hills of South Paris by just two-tenths of a point in the 2020 conference competition, performed well enough to edge the Vikings by three-tenths of a point for the title. This year’s competition was judged on March 6 and livestreamed on the Lincoln County TV YouTube channel last Saturday.
Three elements of championship performances during previous years — vocal performance, pyramids and the five-point showmanship category — are not allowed in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.
That left the emphasis of each routine on other factors such as dance, tumbling and jumps.
Bangor finished with 62 points, compared to 61.7 points for Oxford Hills. Other scoring Class A teams were Mt. Ararat of Topsham (49.9 points), Lewiston (46.25) and Hampden Academy (44.7).
“The girls had a fantastic performance,” Bangor coach Kate Robichaud said. “After two school shutdowns and losing a cheerleader to an injury, we didn’t know what to expect but this team pulled through and had its best performance of the season.”
The Rams are led by captain Brianna Tracy, the lone senior on the 13-member squad. Juniors on the team are Tessa Alley, Elizabeth Brecht, Natalie Cross, Olivia Drake, Kaydence Lux, Haley Pasternack, Emily Tenney, Hailey Tracy and Necia York, along with sophomores Taylor Blackwell, Summer Campbell and Linzee Doyle.
Robichaud and Stephanie Crane are Bangor’s head coaches, assisted by Shawna Kenny.
Medomak Valley, which had its five-year KVAC Class B title streak ended by Leavitt of Turner Center last winter, scored 60.8 points to defeat runner-up Morse of Bath (54.4) in this year’s conference meet.
The champion Panthers do not have a senior on their roster and are led by juniors Greg Cifaldo, Chloe Achorn, Emily Mahoney and Elizabeth Swan.
Sophomores on the 12-member squad are Skylah Ward, Katrina McIntosh and Aaliyah Thompson, along with freshmen Hope Mason, Alyssa Grindle, Braielyn Hood, Samantha Richardson and Acadia Dinsmore.
Heather Simmons is the Medomak Valley head coach, assisted by Rachel Coor.
Teams now will submit entries for the virtual state championship meet this Wednesday and Thursday, with judging set for next weekend and the performances to be livestreamed and results announced on Saturday, March 27, on the Lincoln County TV YouTube channel.
An earlier version of this report misspelled Emily Tenney’s name.
