BANGOR, Maine — The regional cheering competition takes place at the Cross Insurance Center Saturday.
Houlton, Caribou, Central Aroostook, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle are among the local squads participating in the event. The top six teams from each class advance to the state championship, to be held Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Class B North regional competition, which features Caribou and Presque Isle, begins at 9 a.m., with the awards ceremony tentatively set for 10:45 a.m. At the Aroostook County cheering championship Jan. 19 at Caribou High School, Presque Isle was third, while Caribou was fourth. At the Big East Conference competition held Jan. 12 in Caribou, Presque Isle was fourth and Caribou was eighth.
The Class D North/South competition follows at 11:30 a.m. for Central Aroostook and Fort Fairfield, with the awards ceremony slated for 12:45 p.m. The North and South compete in one division due to the small number of squads.
The Panthers of Mars Hill have been a modern dynasty in Class D, winning four consecutive state championships and nine state titles in the past 10 years. Most recently, CAHS captured the County championship and was fifth out of 10 teams in the Big East Conference competition.
At the County championship, Fort Fairfield placed fifth.
The Class C North event, which includes Houlton, begins at 1:45 p.m., with the awards ceremony slated for 3 p.m. The Shires were state runners-up a year ago and are looking to build on that success. Houlton placed second in the County competition and placed fifth in the Penobscot Valley Conference event on Jan. 20.
The Cross Insurance Center will be cleared after each Class event, which means any individual who wishes to see all three competitions will have to pay admission each time.
