The Ellsworth High School cheerleading team made it four state Class B championships in a row and did so in impressive fashion at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday morning.
Lisbon/Hebron collected its fifth consecutive state title in Class C and Oxford Hills of South Paris dethroned Lewiston in Class A.
Ellsworth’s Eagles finished with a score of 87.5 to outdistance Big East and Penobscot Valley Conference rival Hermon by 11.7 points. Poland was third with 73.3 and rounding out the top five in the 16-team field were Gardiner/Hall-Dale (69.75) and Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (69.3).
Places six through 10 were occupied by Lawrence of Fairfield (68.95), Presque Isle (67.8), Waterville/Messalonskee of Oakland (66), Belfast (63.6) and Caribou (63.4).
Lisbon/Hebron accrued 83.85 points to capture its title. Houlton/Greater Houlton Christian Academy was the runnerup with 73.2 points followed by Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (71.8), Central of Corinth (67.4) and Orono (62.7).
Bucksport and Monmouth Academy tied for sixth with 62.5 points and completing the top 10 were Winslow (62), Dexter (58.4) and Oak Hill of Sabattus (50).
In Class A, Oxford Hills of South Paris tallied 85.6 points with Scarborough winding up second with 82.5, followed by Bangor (81.25), Bonny Eagle of Standish (79.9) and Lewiston (78.2). Gorham/Cheverus was sixth with 75.2 points and completing the top 10 were Hampden Academy (71.2), Thornton Academy of Saco (67.7), Skowhegan (63.9) and Brewer (60.7).
Melanie Fox, who co-coaches Ellsworth with Kat Archer, said their Eagles’ performance on Saturday was “spot-on.”
“They did their jobs today, for sure,” Fox said. “They were very well-prepared. Everything they performed was close to perfection. They were solid.”
She said it was one of their best performances of the year.
Fox and Archer have coached the Eagles for 12 seasons and Fox said this is the best team they have coached.
“We’ve had a lot of amazing teams but this group is probably the strongest, collectively,” Fox said.
For the second time, the seniors swept all of their competitions including the Big East, the PVCs and the B North regional to go with the state title. They also did it their sophomore year.
The team’s only junior, Grace Robinson, also shares that distinction as she was a freshman on the 2024 state championship team.
There can be a lot of pressure on teams to defend their state titles but Fox said the girls can handle it.
The Ellsworth team is comprised of seniors Ally Brown, Lily Alley, Molly Smith, Noelle Towne and Whitney Jordan, along with junior Robinson, sophomores Brielle Weatherbee, Brooklyn Burke, Callie Clough and Keira Crawford, and freshmen Avery Fernald, Ellie Vogell, Jaya Beers, Jordis Pesek, Kaia Tulloss, Natalia Briggs, Savannah Mohr and Sierra Gilley.
Fox said they will miss their seniors next year but that the future is bright.
“Our five seniors have a lot of skill and experience but we brought in a lot of talented freshmen this year. We’ll be very strong next year,” Fox said.
Jessie Becher’s Oxford Hills team had just one senior in Evey Hall. She was joined by juniors Amelia Brassard, Brayleigh Denlinger, Hollie Denning and Taylor Lawler; sophomores Addyson Rice, Ava Campbell, Brenna Wilson, Miley Moore, Taylor Truman and Zoe Dow; and freshman Elena Colsden.
Nicole Adams’ Lisbon/Hebron team had seven seniors in Alivia Saunders, Ava Kottmann, Brady Knight, Ella Morales, Kyla Berube, Payton Hoyle and Reese Kulow. Emma Bourgoin is their only junior and they also have eight sophomores and a freshman.
The sophomores are Ava Francis, Bryn Chase, Ella Charest, Gabrielle Adams, Lauren Vella, Maddie Earle, Makenzie Ranta and Rilynn Daigle and the freshman is Kenzie Hurd.