PI wins league cheering title
CARIBOU, Maine — Five varsity teams from around the County performed at Caribou High School on Friday for the 24th annual Aroostook League Cheering Championship.
The Caribou, Central Aroostook, Houlton, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle varsity teams hit the floor in front of packed bleachers filled with a roaring crowd of friends, family members and fellow students for the competition.
Presque Isle earned this year’s Aroostook League championship while Caribou was named runner-up.
Wildcat coach Jenna Bradstreet said she was surprised with the win.
“We had a lot of injuries this year and we had a lot of sicknesses right before. The girls just really pulled together. It was a tough call between all the teams. The girls have been pushing their way through it and we showed that,” said Bradstreet as her team members cheered and smiled for photos.
Presque Isle junior Lindsey Lagerstrom was excited about the victory.
“We pushed really hard,” she said. “We’ve had a couple of rough patches, but came out tonight and worked it the best we could and it paid off.”
Caribou coach Brandi Makepeace-Cote said some hard work by her team allowed for the impressive placement.
“My girls truly impressed me, and themselves, with their performance,” she said. “They had worked at practicing and fixing little pieces of the routine to make it cleaner and it really paid off as evidenced by both rounds being equally solid. There weren’t any major falls, drops or timing issues.”
Performances by the Caribou Recreation Department Cheerleaders and the 2015 Aroostook League middle school champions from Central Aroostook Junior High School provided the evening’s special entertainment.
On the sidelines, parents snapped pictures and pelted cheerleaders with cries of joy and support.
Tanya Nichols, the mother of Fort Fairfield High School senior Branden Nichols, said her son joined the Tigers’ cheering squad this year and says out of all the different sports that he has tried, it has provided the only regiment that has ever raised his cardio to new levels.
“[Branden] is preparing to enter the Navy and [cheering] is something he really needed. He didn’t realize how out of shape he was until he did this and now he loves it,” Nichols said.
Best team dance and motions went home with Houlton, best team tumbling and stunts went to Presque Isle and Caribou scored best team jumps.
All-star awards were handed to Sarah Gerritsen of Central Aroostook and Michelle Cawley of Presque Isle for tumbling, All-star jumps went to Karina Patterson of Caribou and Makayla Burbee of Presque Isle, while all-star stunt group went to Caribou’s Emma Theriault, Hannah McDonald, Irene Thibodeau, Karina Patterson and Mariella Marte,
Fort Fairfield brought home the Spirit Award.
It was a quick turnaround for both the Wildcat and Viking cheerleaders as the following afternoon, both squads travelled to Bar Harbor to compete in the Penobscot Valley Conference championship at MDI Regional High School.
Hermon and Ellsworth finished one-two, with PI taking fourth out of the eight Class B schools participating.
