AUGUSTA — Traditional powers and a first-time champion reached the top of the state’s high school cheerleading pyramid Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

After finishing fourth a year ago, Lewiston reclaimed its spot atop Class A with its fourth championship in five years. And Central Aroostook won Class D for the seventh time in eight years, holding off Bangor Christian 117.2-102.2.

Hermon posted a 149.5 to hold off Medomak Valley (145.8) and win its fifth straight Class B title. Lisbon, meanwhile, won its first state title, taking Class C.

Lewiston posted the top score of the day, a 160.2 that also included a one-point deduction. Defending champ Biddeford (152.2) was second and Noble (150.9) third.

“They did what they needed to do to bring the title back to Lewiston and that’s all we can ask for,” Lewiston Coach Lynette Morency said. “They’ve worked really hard, they’ve had a really good week (and) they just really wanted to bring it back.

“Last year’s fourth-place finish was really hard to swallow and they came back with a vengeance this year.”

“Our goal this year was to not let that pressure get to us,” said Tia Cortes, the senior co-captain. “We had something to prove but we didn’t have to worry about it. What we wanted to do was hit our stunts and get our stuff done, and we did that.

“We’ve put countless hours into those stunts and it really paid off.”

Both Cortes and her fellow co-captain, Andrea Bonin, felt their stunts could set the Blue Devils apart from the competition if they stuck them. Once they did, they had a good idea that the title would return to Lewiston.

“I had a pretty good idea,” Bonin said. “We had seen the previous scores from previous competitions and we knew that our scores versus other teams, that if we hit it could easily be above everyone else.”

As for the Tigers, there was some disappointment in settling for second place but they also recognized Lewiston’s performance.

“Lewiston definitely has the better routine,” Biddeford Coach Deb Lebel said. “We’ve always been kind of close. It’s gone back and forth for a long time but this year they had the better routine.”

“Obviously it wasn’t what we wanted,” added Biddeford senior co-captain Hannah Morin-Roy. “Our goal was to win but this season we’ve had so many injuries, so many obstacles to overcome. To be second in this state is something to be extremely proud of.”

The Tigers may have had a chance of catching the Blue Devils had they put together a near-perfect routine, but a misstep on a pyramid early on proved costly.

To Biddeford’s credit, it recovered nicely from the mistake yet it wouldn’t be enough to catch Lewiston.

“I definitely think it would have been really, really close,” Biddeford senior co-captain Jill Vigneault said.

“If we would have went out there and hit it and done everything perfect we might have won, but it would have been really, really close.”

Like Lewiston, Hermon is no stranger to state cheerleading titles, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of pressure on the Hawks, particularly after a strong performance from Medomak Valley just two routines earlier.

“You absolutely always feel the pressure, but it’s also a new year and a new group of kids,” Hermon Coach Kristie Reed said. “You build the same way.

“I think with the technical points we could outscore in a couple areas as long as we hit it. We really, honestly, had to come out with a lot of energy and hit our routine. There was no room for mistakes.”

As for Lisbon (119.3), it emerged from the tightest competition of the day, edging out Dirigo (118.1), Madison (117.8), Orono (117.5), Bucksport (115.4) and Monmouth Academy (113.7) for the title.

“I’m shocked. I’m surprised right now,” Lisbon Coach Nicole Adams said. “When (they announced) Dirigo took second I had no idea who took first.

“They were runners-up last year so they had a taste of it and I know my seniors wanted it bad this year.”

A week ago at the Western Class C championships, Lisbon finished fourth behind Dirigo, Madison and Monmouth, yet Saturday’s performance was evidence that anything can happen on a given day.

“It was determination. They had a lot of focus,” Adams said. “We had a lack of practice – like most teams did because of all the snow – but we pulled it together. We had nothing to lose today.

“They pushed for this and they sold it (Saturday). They had the spirit; they had the energy.”

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