AUGUSTA — The usual state contenders made their first strike of the 2025 postseason at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference/Mountain Valley Conference/Western Maine Conference championships on Saturday, while a new one burst onto the scene.

Lawrence (77.8 points) pulled out its best performance of the season thus far, and was crowned the KVAC B champions in front of a packed Augusta Civic Center crowd.

“It feels great, I’m so excited for us,” said Lawrence junior Kaylee Greenleaf.

“It feels amazing, our school hasn’t won a KVAC since 1991,” said Lawrence coach Chelsea Harrison. “The girls and I have been working very, very hard. They’ve really put their heart and soul into this team and I’m very proud of them.”

Sitting among a sea of teams on the blue mat in the center of the ACC, the Bulldogs had reactions of joy and shock as their name was announced as the champion, despite entering the meet confident that they could pull off a strong routine.

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“We have a really great team this year and we’ve been working really hard,” Greenleaf said. “ I had a feeling we were going to do really well this weekend.”

“We have a really great feeder program through our (Fairfield Police Athletic League) program,” Harrison said. “A lot of these girls I’ve been coaching through fourth grade. I knew their potential. This year, I gave them some really hard skills, and they’ve just mastered them over the last few weeks and they really performed today.”

The Bulldogs held off a hard charge from runner-up Gardiner/Hall-Dale, which had 73.45 points.

Lawrence performs its routine during the KVAC B cheerleading competition on Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. The Bulldogs won with a score of 77.8. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The rest of the conferences were littered with repeat winners. Lewiston, which won its 12th Class A title last season, once again won the KVAC A championship with a near-flawless routine. The Blue Devils finished with 88.9 points. Rival Oxford Hills (82.5) was runner-up.

“This team is incredible,” said Lewiston senior Phoenix Beaulieu. “I love this routine, I love going out on this floor with all these people. It’s a great feeling walking away and feeling accomplished and happy with my teammates and myself.”

“We’re feeling really good,” Lewiston coach Matt Hanley said. “They did their job, they hit what they needed to hit.

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“We just start building them (for the championship competitions), mentally preparing them. We’ve done a lot of visualization, a lot different things this season to prepare them. This is a very young team, I lost a big group of very talented seniors last year. But the crew we have this year is just ready to work. They’re one of the hardest-working groups I’ve ever had.”

The Blue Devils were treated like rock stars by the crowd and fellow competitors alike, receiving the loudest ovation of the afternoon, with people circled around the media table watching the routine.

“(The attention and pressure) can be a lot, it’s almost like all eyes are on you,” Beaulieu said. “But you get used to it. It’s a great feeling to have that following. It feels like everybody is on their feet, clapping their hands, screaming for you and the incredible teammates. It’s an incredible feeling.”

Lisbon performs its routine during the Mountain Valley Conference cheerleading competition on Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. The Greyhounds scored 77.5 points to win the title. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Lisbon dominated the competition to win the MVC title. The Greyhounds finished with 77.5 points, while runner-up Monmouth Academy scored 51 points.

Lisbon has won the last three consecutive Class C titles (by itself in 2022, and as a co-op with St. Dominic in 2023 and 2024) and has won six Class C championships dating back to 2015.

Gray-New Gloucester kicked off the morning with a strong routine, racking up 77 points to repeat as WMC champions. The Patriots held off runner-up Poland, which finished with 59.5 points.

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