Dunn, Good to co-coach Houlton cheerleaders

Two familiar coaches will be taking over the Houlton High School Varsity Cheerleaders this year, with hopes of a championship bid by season’s end.
Julie Dunn and Shari Good are back to lead a group of young, but talented cheerleaders.
    Dunn coached the Junior High Cheerleaders the last two years and Good returns to the cheering scene after a 12-year hiatus.
“There wasn’t a coach for the team this season, so we decided to step in,” said Good. “We didn’t want to see the program lost.”
Good and Joan Skehan co-coached the first-ever state championship cheerleading squad in 1997.
From there, Good and Dunn have combined for a total of seven Eastern Maine and State championships.
Dunn’s junior high squad last season competed in the state final and came away with a runner-up trophy.
“I was able to take the girls to the Bangor Auditorium,” explained Dunn. “They were able to perform in front of a crowd and judges. So, this will only serve to help this season.”
A year ago, the Houlton squad graduated nine seniors of their 15-cheerleader roster, winning a Penobscot Valley Conference (PVC) title, placing second in the Aroostook League championship, while finishing fifth at the regionals and fifth in the state competition.
This season, six veterans returned, but with a host of younger cheerleaders the squad is at a solid 20 performers.
“We have a great group to work with,” said Dunn. “They are enthusiastic and talented.”
According to Good and Dunn, cheering is a sport of a different nature. They went on to explain that “it takes a village” to coach a team to a championship. They have learned from experience that the more resources a coach has the better. No coach can do it alone.
“You have to be willing to let past cheerleaders, coaches, judges, dance teachers, gymnastic coaches and others into the practice room to help perfect the 3-minute routine,” said Good.
This Saturday, the cheerleaders will be getting their routine, which has taken some finagling to accomplish.
“Our original choreographer called and couldn’t be here due to illness,” said Good. “So, Julie and I started to call on our resources and were able to get a choreographer from Brewer.”
The cheerleaders are given three minutes to complete their routine, which is a difficult chore at times. But even more of a trick is getting the cheerleaders ready to perform, which means conditioning and then introducing the younger cheerleaders to flying and building bases. And, if that isn’t enough, they have to learn basic game cheers all within a two-week period before the season starts.
The Houlton cheerleaders’ competitive season doesn’t begin until January, but practices and games are instrumental in getting them in shape, while tweaking the performance.
“We try to get the routine on the floor as soon as we can,” said Good. “It is neat to watch the routine grow from the time we start to work on it until the end of the season. At first the crowd doesn’t know what to expect. But the more they see it, the more they get into it. They start to recognize when the cheerleaders are hitting the stunts and they clap and cheer.”
With the first competition being the PVC, Dunn and Good will receive the judges’ scores to review. From there, the coaches will address the items that need to be adjusted.
“After that, we will work toward cleaning up the routine for the Aroostook League championship,” said Good. “After we get those scores, we will concentrate on getting ready for the regionals and hopefully, the states.”
The squad is young with more than half freshmen. They have 11 freshmen and only two seniors so it will be a growing year, but along with that comes a lot of fresh enthusiasm and stronger work ethic, said Dunn.              Cheering this season are: senior captains Amber Carmichael and Stephannie Kressig; juniors Brandon Murphy, Megan Maker, Danielle Daigle, Marcy Hernandez, Taylor Lindsey and Jen Farrar; the only sophomore is Jordan Findlater and freshmen Maggie Russell, Erynne Howland, Franki White, Melissa Peabody, Crystal Nason, Kristin Farwell, Taylor Forest, Mickaela Tuttle, Ashley McNinch, Sarah Bouchard and Lauren Bragan.