Wildcats qualify for state cheering finals
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — Fresh off a victory at the Aroostook County Cheering Competition at Caribou High School Jan. 6, and a solid showing at the Big East championships Jan. 7, the Presque Isle cheering squad was hoping for a strong enough performance at Saturday’s regional event to advance to states.
Staff photo/Joe Cyr
THREE CHEERS — 
Presque Isle’s Rachel Dow, Brittany Good and Justena Cleveland take to the mat during the Eastern Maine Cheerleading Championship in Bangor on Saturday.
Mission accomplished.
Presque Isle put on a high-energy show in front of a large following of Wildcat fans at the Bangor Auditorium Saturday and the end result was a return to the state Class B championships, slated for Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Augusta Civic Center. The time for the competition has yet to be determined.
“We came down with a goal of advancing to States,” Presque Isle coach Jolene Kinney said. “We have had to overcome a lot of things this year, but I am so happy with their effort here today.”
Presque Isle finished sixth in the event. Ellsworth and Hermon easily distanced themselves as the top two squads respectively in the event.
The top six teams advanced to the state event. Team scores were: 1, Ellsworth, 145.7; 2, Hermon, 143; 3, John Bapst, 130.6; 4, Old Town, 124.7; 5, Mt. Desert Island, 112.8; 6, Presque Isle, 112.8; 7, Nokomis, 111.6; 8, Caribou, 106.7; 9, Waterville, 105; 10, Washington Academy, 101; 11, Foxcroft Academy. 96.1; 12, Oceanside, 95.5; 13, Mt. View, 93.6; and 14, Maine Central Institute, 82.9.
Kinney said even though they technically tied with MDI, they ranked lower because the judges’ “overall appeal” category is used as the tiebreaker.
“We have some extra motivation for States,” Kinney said. “MDI had not placed higher than us in any of the competition this year, and our score of 112.8 was actually the lowest we have had all season. So there is some extra motivational factors for us.”
She added the squad was excited to be going to States for the third straight year and plans to use the two-week period to clean up the Wildcats routine.
Members of the Presque Isle squad include Justena Cleveland, Kelsey Corriveau, Rachel Dow, Elena Ford, Brittany Good, Mary Green, Kenedy Jarvis, Cassandra Lunney, Gabrielle McCrum, Katelyn Michaud, Michaela Powers and Kelsie Spooner.
Members of the Caribou squad, which is coached by Brandi Makepeace, includes Melanie Biggs, Natasha Bishop, Jennifer Blaisdell, Danielle Chase, Jessica Devoe, Elizabeth Dionne, Victoria Fraser, Sage Gehring, Sabrina Haney, Gabrielle Ingersoll, Emma Jandreau, Chaya Karunasiri, Rebecca Malm, Brianna Marte, Mariella Marte, Karina Patterson, Mariesa Sarmiento, Jamie St. Peter and Elsa Thibodeau.
