Hernandez sidelined

Houlton cheerleaders work hard to make up difference before Saturday’s States
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The Houlton High School cheerleaders will head to the state cheering competition in Bangor on Saturday, a person short.
    Senior Marcy Hernandez had an emergency appendectomy last Saturday.
    “Her main concern was for her teammates and how her absence would affect the routine,” said Houlton co-coach Shari Good. “Marcy also shared that during the night, while she was in the ER (waiting to find out if she was going to be going to surgery) she was trying to make a plan for the changes that would need to be made in the routine.”
    Reassuring Hernandez that everything would be fine, coaches Good and Julie Dunn hit panic mode.
    “We called our choreographer,” Good said. “We are constantly consulting with him during the cheering season. He can bring us back down to earth and helps us come up with a plan.”
    Houlton’s choreographer is Jeff Frankland and he has been with the program for 17 years.
    “When we called him on Saturday, the first thing he did was rearrange his schedule so that he could travel here from New Hampshire on Monday night,” said Dunn.
    For Hernandez, missing her last high school cheerleading competition is disappointing.
    “It is the worst feeling,” she said. “I am no longer going to perform that routine with my team ever again or cheer at a game in the gym. My passion is cheering and has been since Kindergarten. Not being able to do my very last competition or my senior night is the worst thing that could happen to me my senior year.”
    Frankland, along with her coaches, recognized the impact of Hernandez’s absence.
    “Marcy is a senior and a leader on Houlton’s squad,” said Good. “She is a flyer, a tumbler and an awesome jumper. Much of the routine was designed around Marcy being in the front to lead the rest of the squad in the dance and cheer part of the routine.”
    Good and Dunn were prepared as they kept two alternates this season.
    “We pulled the first alternate up less than a week before Eastern Maine and now we are using our last one to replace Marcy,” Good said. “Our alternate does not fly or tumble so the ‘domino effect’ began.”
    Houlton coaches moved cheerleaders around until they could come up with a final line.
    “It took awhile but we did finally come up with a final product,” said Dunn.
    Hernandez said she is definitely still going to the competition.
    “If I feel well enough, I will still ride the bus with them on Friday and stay the night with them,” she said. “Nothing can stop me from being there.”
    Hernandez received many texts, phone calls and even Facebook talk from her teammates after her surgery.
    “They assured me they were going to do their best and make me proud,” she said. “It made me feel so good knowing they wanted to work extra hard and win it for me. I know they can and I can’t wait to watch them do it! It will be hard since I’m used to being out there, but everything happens for a reason, as I’ve been told many times!”
    Hernandez’s teammates stepped up and committed to extra practices so that they could make the changes and go onto States.
    “They were amazing,” Good said. “They want to try to win the title not only for themselves, but for Marcy, as well. This squad has certainly learned how to deal with adversity and they stood strong in their time of challenge.”