Sports Editor
AUGUSTA — Achieving success when a team is not 100 percent can be a near-impossible feat for any team in any sport. Just ask the Caribou cheering squad. Fresh off a solid fourth-place finish at the Eastern Class B competition, the Vikings were hoping to achieve similar results Saturday at the State Class B cheering event at the Augusta Civic Center. But when a couple of members went down in the days leading up to states with illnesses and injuries, coach Brandi Makepeace knew her team had an uphill climb.
“We did not fare so well at states,” coach Makepeace said. “We lost a girl the week after Easterns and another one two days before States. We were missing one of our stunt groups and half of our pyramid. No one can place well at a state competition with those things missing.”
Poland Regional High School won the event scoring 146.8 points, followed by Ellsworth, 145.9; Hermon, 141.5; Presque Isle, 137.2; Waterville, 134; John Bapst of Bangor, 132.9; Wells, 131.9; Mountain Valley of Rumford, 130.9; Oak Hill of Sabattus, 130.3; Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, 129.9; Caribou, 127.5; and Leavitt of Turner, 126.6.
“All of the teams performed really well,” Makepeace said. “Caribou performed pretty well too for all that we had missing. The girls all went out there and had fun and that’s really all they could do. That’s pretty much all there is to say about the state competition except for we will be back next year as a strong competitor for sure.”
