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AUGUSTA — The music and voiceover accompanying Oxford Hills’ routine at the Class A cheerleading state championship were intentional. 

Between flips and choreography, fans could hear “Vikings are back” and “The comeback is real” over the loudspeaker. 

“These girls came out and they immediately knew they had something to prove, and they wanted to make people watch them,” said coach Jessie Becher. “And they needed to bring that energy. And this is a first as far as the energy is over the top. Every single girl just, you want to watch them.” 

That energy and belief worked, as Oxford Hills earned a state championship Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. 

In a tightly-contested field, the Vikings emerged with a total score of 85.60 points. Scarborough (82.50), Bangor (81.25), Bonny Eagle (79.9) and Lewiston (78.2) finished close behind. 

“It was a lot of hard work, but we knew what we had to do, and we did it,” senior Evey Hall said. “We won. And I think we’re all really happy with what the performance was. And we all came together as a group, we love each other very much. It’s always support with this group, and it’s the best team that I’ve ever had.”

Hall was a member of the 2023 championship team that interrupted a wave of three Lewiston championships in 2022, 2024 and 2025. 

Now, she’s a two-time champion.

“It’s emotional,” Hall said. “Tears in my eyes. I knew it was between us and Bangor and Lewiston so I was just listening and then I hear our name and I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, we just won.’”

Earlier in the day, chants of “five-peat” broke out as Lisbon/Hebron claimed its fifth straight Class C state championship. 

The Greyhounds led the pack with a score of 83.85 points. Houlton/Great Houlton Christian followed in second place (73.20) and Mattanawcook Academy was third (71.80). 

“Every year, you have to add a little extra,” said Lisbon coach Nicole Adams. “Build off of the foundation you created and add a little extra. Next year’s going to be a bigger hurdle, we are graduating a good chunk of seniors, but we have a solid foundation. So it’s amazing. It’s amazing.”

Alivia Saunders is one of the seniors who won a championship in every year of her high school career. 

“Four in a row, it hits hard, but doing it with the best team you can imagine hits harder, so I couldn’t be happier to leave it all on the mat like we did today,” Saunders said. 

The Greyhounds’ routine had a rock-‘n’-roll theme, with a remix of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” punctuating their performance. 

“A lot of us are seniors, so it was very sad, and we’re with our friends for the last time … but we did really good,” said Kyla Berube, another four-time champ.

Ellsworth also marked a milestone, as the Eagles won their fourth consecutive Class B state championship, leading the field with a score of 87.50 points. Hermon (75.80) and Poland (73.30) followed in second and third place. 

“Really, what I think about is that we just can’t give up now,” Jordan said of her thoughts going into the competition. “We’ve gotten this far, we have done so good, it’s just one more push. One more push. And then it’s over now, but we had the right mindset the whole entire season. We knew what we wanted. We go over goals, and we just have to make them come to life.” 

Jordan, called a co-coach by Ellsworth coaches Melanie Fox and Kat Archer, ends her high school career with four state championships. 

“I think that’s kind of an unusual (thing) for any cheering team, to be a senior and say they’ve had four state titles,” Fox said. “It’s a big deal.” 

Ellsworth is the first school to win four straight Class B championships since Hermon had a five-year run from 2017-21. 

“It means a lot to us, but we’re just so thrilled for the kids,” Archer said. “Our seniors have been with us from the beginning, freshman year, and to see the work that they’ve put in is just really awesome to see it through their eyes.”

Jordan is confident that even when her class of seniors graduates, the program will remain in a strong position to win future championships. 

“With these coaches and the other girls on the team, (even) without our graduating seniors, they are going to go so far,” Jordan said. “They step up and they come to practice every day and they work hard. And they know how it feels, all of them now, so they’ll all be back, and they’re going to do it again.”