Cheering: Central edges Lisbon for Class C crown; Hermon rules in Class B

Spruce Mountain High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor on Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)

Lisbon High School celebrates after earning second place in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Class C Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor on Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)

Lisbon High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)

BANGOR — Repeating as champions is no easy task in high school cheering.

Hermon made it look that way earlier this decade in Class B, and Lisbon was hoping to do the same thing in Class C this year.

The Hawks accomplished that goal Saturday at Cross Insurance Center, winning back-to-back B state titles, but the Greyhounds were denied the same feat in C, edged out by the Central team they beat for the title last year.

The Red Devils, of Corinth, lost by just over two points to to Lisbon last year. Saturday, it was the Greyhounds who were an even smaller margin short, with their score of 71.6 not enough to jump Central’s 72.2 score.

“They did exactly what I asked them to do,” Lisbon coach Nicole Adams said. “They should be extremely proud. Their score went up again, which is our goal every competition. Keep raising your score, hit clean, and that’s what they did.”

Central’s state title was its first since 2014.

“They wanted to bring home a title that has eluded us for the last few years,” Central coach Cristy Strout said. “We’re always right there, but we’ve been missing just a little bit.

“We knew Regionals wasn’t our best performance, and we knew coming in that we needed to beat at least one team if we wanted to be in top two. And these kids dug their heels in and went to work.”

The Red Devils don’t have any seniors on the team. The Greyhounds, meanwhile, say goodbye to seven seniors who started their careers by winning the program’s first state title in 2015.

“It’s hard for my seven seniors,” Adams said. “This was it. This was the big hurrah. To be just shy of it, it hurts a little bit.”

Sumner, of Sullivan, was third, followed by Mattanawcook, Sacopee Valley and Monmouth in sixth.

While the Class C scores were close, Hermon outdistanced Ellsworth for the Class B title. The Hawks had a score of 83.5, with the Eagles just edging third-place Medomak Valley for second, 77.5 to 77.3.

“They hit their routine better than they have,” Hermon coach Kristie Reed said. “We knew we had a little bit more difficulty than some of the teams that we were up against, so we had to hit it, but they were very confident today and I was proud of them.”

Ellsworth also finished just behind Hermon in the North regional two weeks ago.

“It’s not a disappointment. I mean, nobody is ever excited to be in second, they’ve worked hard, so it’s an honor to be second in the state. There’s a lot of teams that we compete with,” Ellsworth co-coach Melanie Omlor-Fox said. “Obviously their goal was to be state champs. So we try to tell them, ‘Don’t settle, work harder.'”

Reed said her team was on the practice mat — behind a curtain from the competiton mat — and could hear the crowd cheer during Ellsworth’s routine, so her team “knew we just had to do our best as well.”

The Hermon coach — whose program won five state titles in a row from 2011-15 — said this year’s team was her most skilled team she’s had. They just had to prove it when it mattered most.

Old Town finished fourth in Class B, followed by Gray-New Gloucester and Leavitt.

Leavitt High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)

The Hermon Hawks won the Class B 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)

Leavitt High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Monmouth Academy competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Lisbon High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Mountain Valley High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Lisbon High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)A Mountain Valley High School cheerleader has a tumble go badly during the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Heman Hawks won the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Dirigo High School cheerleaders compete in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Gray-New Goucester competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)The Gardiner High School Tigers compete in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Spruce Mountain High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Sacopee Valley High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Spruce Mountain High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)Leavitt High School competes in the 2018 Maine Principals’ Association State Cheerleading Championsips in Bangor in Saturday morning. (Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal)