Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro annexed its first ever state Class B cheering title and Lisbon claimed its fourth C title since 2015 at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday.
Heather Simmons’ Panthers ended Hermon’s string of five consecutive state titles. Hermon was seeking its 13th championship in 14 years.
Medomak Valley tallied 85 points with Hermon posting a score of 79.4 in the 19-team field. Ellsworth was third with 71.1 points and John Bapst of Bangor was fourth with 68.7 points. Leavitt of Turner rounded out the top five with a score of 68.6, and the next five spots went to Morse of Bath (60.20), Erskine Academy of South China (53.30), Mount Desert Island (52.80), Nokomis of Newport (51.80) and Presque Isle (50.20).
Lisbon, the 2019 winner, was followed by Dexter, the co-operative team of Lincoln’s Mattanawcook Academy and Howland’s Penobscot Valley High School, and Winslow.
Dexter High School competes in the Maine Class C state cheerleading competition. Dexter was the Class C runner up. Credit: Tom Neubelt / BDN
Penobscot Valley High was the state Class D champ in the virtual state championship competition last season, but moved up to C and merged with Mattanawcook Academy this year.
Medomak Valley and Lisbon had won the Class B and Class C South regionals a week ago.
Defending state Class C champ Monmouth Academy dropped to Class D this season and merged with Winthrop High School.
Medomak Valley churned out a near-perfect routine to wrest the title from the Hawks.
The Panthers had lost to Hermon by 3.2 points a year ago and had finished third two seasons ago.
Ellsworth improved its standing from sixth a year ago in the virtual competition, and John Bapst made a significant leap from ninth to fourth.
The Ellsworth High Cheerleading squad finished third in the Class B state competition. Credit: Tom Neubelt / BDN
The Medomak Valley cheering squad was composed of Greg Cifaldo, Emily Mahoney, Lizzi Swan, Chloe Acorn, Aaliyah Thompson, Skyla Ward, Samantha Richardson, Alyssa Grindle, Braelyn Hood, Hope Mason and Ashlyn Ward.
Lisbon placed a distant eighth a year ago in the virtual competition after being the runner-up in 2020.
Nicole Adams’ squad featured Grace Braley, Annika Galino, Reese McAtee, Jennifer St. Pierre, Trinity Truffant, Laryssa Cleaves, Penelope Lucas, Nevaeh Fortin, Rylee Hoyle and Mackenzie Theriault.
Prior to 2019, Lisbon had earned championships in 2015 and 2017.
Cheerleading from John Bapst of Bangor and Presque Isle compete in the Class B competition. The teams finished fourth and tenth, respectively. Credit: Tom Neubelt / BDN