AUGUSTA — Oxford Hills looked calm, relaxed and loose taking the floor of the Maine State Cheerleading Championships on Saturday.
And moments later, the Vikings put on their best performance of the season at the Augusta Civic Center, pulling off a crisp, clean routine that earned them their first Class A title in 23 years.
“It feels amazing,” Oxford Hills senior Maddie Striegel said. “This is my 13th year cheering, and Oxford Hills hasn’t won a state championship (in a long time).”
“It’s awesome, it’s just so wonderful,” Oxford Hills head coach Deborah Loveless said. “These girls have worked so hard.”
The Vikings finished with 89 points. Defending champion Lewiston (87.1) was the runner-up. Noble finished third with 74.25 points. It’s the first Class A title for the Vikings since 2000, the back end of back-to-back titles for the South Paris-based school.
“Being (the last team to perform), it was hard seeing everybody else do well,” Oxford Hills senior Elizabeth Hallee said. “We just told ourselves that we needed to beat out our performance (from regionals). If we beat out our performance from last time, we won, in our eyes. That was (the focus) going out, staying confident, but not cocky.”
The win was a continuation of a successful postseason for the Vikings, who won the Class A North title last week, topping Lewiston and Bangor.
Lisbon/St. Dominic won the Class C title in the tightest competition of the afternoon. The Greyhounds finished with 78.4 points, while Dexter (78.2) finished as runner-up. Central (68.7) was third. Lisbon won the Class C championship last year, but it’s the first state title as a co-op program.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to do this (as a co-op program), so it feels really good,” Lisbon/St. Dom head coach Nicole Adams said. “And the fact that it was that close was incredible.”
“It feels amazing,” Lisbon/St. Dom sophomore Riley Hoyle said. “We were kind of nervous, because we knew Dexter was going to be one of our biggest competitions, and they were. As a young team, we worked really hard (and pulled it off). I was really nervous, there was a lot of good teams here and a lot of talent.”
Ellsworth (88.15 points) had the dominant win of the evening for its first Class B championship. The Eagles cruised to victory thanks to a clean, intricate routine that was one of the more popular performances of the night.
“I can’t even tell you how excited we are (to win),” Ellsworth coach Melanie Fox said. “We’ve been fighting for a lot of years to get here. It’s an incredible feeling.”
Hermon (79.45) placed second, while Gray-New Gloucester (77.4) was third.
Central Aroostook (50.4 points) won the Class D title, followed by Bangor Christian (46.1) and Machias (39.5). It’s the 13th Class D crown for the Panthers since 2008.
The top three teams in each class advances to the New England Cheer Championships on March 18 at Worcester State University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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