Sports Editor
CARIBOU — The Presque Isle cheering squad picked up its second straight Aroostook County crown Friday evening when the Wildcats beat Caribou, Houlton and Central Aroostook for the league championship.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Showing good form on her jump is Caribou’s Megan Jandreau, who won an individual award for jumps during Friday’s Aroostook County Championship. Caribou placed fourth in the event and then took fourth in the Big East Conference championships the following day.
Held at Caribou High School, the Wildcats averaged a score of 68.5 points after two rounds for the victory. The other team scores were: Houlton, 65.05; Central Aroostook, 61.4; and Caribou, 60.3.
The event served as a prelude to this weekend’s Eastern Regional championships at the Bangor Auditorium. The Class B competition begins at 9 a.m., followed by Class D at noon; and Class C at 3:30 p.m.
In Friday night’s competition, special awards were also presented in the following categories: team dance, Houlton; tumbling, CAHS; motions, Presque Isle; jumps, Houlton; stunts, Presque Isle; and spirit, CAHS. Individual awards were presented to Brandon Murphy of Houlton and Miranda Lovely of Presque Isle in tumbling and Jordan Kinney of Presque Isle and Megan Jandreau of Caribou in jumps.
“They did amazingly well,” Presque Isle coach Jolene Kinney said. “They enjoy the hometown atmosphere of the Caribou meet. It gives those that don’t travel to Bangor a chance to see us perform and it really pumps up the squad.”
The Caribou roster includes Taylor Willette, Janelle Kernan, Ashley Johndro, Megan Jandreau, Sarah Peterson, Hannah Saucier, Kyle McEwen, Elainee Norris, Ashley Clark, Natasha Bishop, Jessica Devoe, Elsa Thibodeau, Gabi Ingersoll, Jennifer Blaisdell, Elizabeth Dionne, Sabrina Haney and Brianna Marte. The coach is Brandi Makepeace.
“We had a deduction in the first round,” coach Makepeace said. “I think the pressure of winning in our own gym and beating our rival Presque Isle really caused the nerves to get the best us. We also have one girl with an injured hip, one with bruised ribs, and another with an injured knee, so those things did not help their performance either. They performed well, just not quite as good as they do in practice.”
On Saturday, Caribou traveled to Old Town for the Big East competition. Hermon won the event with 136 points, followed by Ellsworth, 131.9; Presque Isle, 125.5; and Caribou, 120.9.
“This Saturday at Big East was really strange for us,” coach Makepeace said. “We started off with one less stunt group because I had a girl that was very sick. Then before the second round my girl with the injured hip (Megan Jandreau) was in too much pain to go another round. So my third flyer (Elainee Norris), who hadn’t warmed up all day, agreed to go in the air without warming up with a different back-spot than she normally has. We went into round two with no pressure to do well because we honestly thought it was going to be disastrous, due to Elainee not warming up and Sarah having to learn new formations between rounds. The round went flawlessly and I could not stop smiling the entire time. I was amazed at the fact that despite all that had gone wrong, they really worked it out as a team and performed better than they have all season.”
On Jan. 9, Presque Isle and Caribou traveled to Ellsworth for the PVC (Penobscot Valley Conference) competition. Hermon won the event followed by John Bapst, Presque Isle, Ellsworth, Old Town, Caribou, Bucksport, Mattanawcook and MDI.
“There were a lot of teams that had deductions in that competition,” coach Makepeace said. “It being the first competition, it gives all the teams a chance to see what they are doing wrong and what needs to be worked on for the next competition.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
All smiles as she performs during Friday night’s Aroostook League Cheerleading competition is Caribou’s Jessica Devoe, front, while her teammate Brianna Marte performs in the background.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Leading the cheers during Friday’s Aroostook County Cheerleading Championship is Caribou’s Kyle McEwen. Caribou is competing Saturday in the Eastern Maine Class B championships.
