Ellsworth High School cheerleading co-coaches Melanie Fox and Kat (Dickens) Archer certainly know the heartbreak that goes with finishing second in a state championship meet.
After six state Class B runner up finishes in their first eight years, they took home their first state B title a year ago.
Now they have won two in a row after the Eagles triumphed again on Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Fox, whose Eagles registered a score of 84.95 which was 2.55 better than runnerup Gray-New Gloucester. Hermon was third with a score of 76.15.
“It was scary, I’m not going to lie. We knew we had some (tough) competition. We squeaked by (Gray-New Gloucester),” said Fox. “We knew we had to (perform) our best.”
Fox said their performance was “almost flawless.
“One of our girls got a little tripped up on a dismount and fell down. But she got back up real quickly,” said Fox.
“It wasn’t like a stunt fall. We hit all of our stunts and our pyramid and our tumbling was impeccable,” Fox added. “They were solid.”
Fox said they had a stunt go awry during their B North regional championship performance but noted that “our routines are designed so that you can have bumps in the road but still be okay. They are very elite routines. They are at the next level, to be honest.”
Fox admitted that after losing five important seniors off last year’s team, she and Archer didn’t know what to expect at the state meet on Saturday.
Captain Natalie Sawyer was the only senior on this year’s team and there were just two juniors in Olivia Leighton and Mount Desert Island transfer Calie Reece. There were seven sophomores and two freshmen.
“We weren’t sure what their mindset would be. They are young and we didn’t know if they could take the pressure. In years past, we’ve seen teams fall apart just before our mat time.
But they were able to keep it together. It was like a business trip for them and they got it done,” said Fox. “They had their heads on straight.”
“We performed in front of a crowd every opportunity we had this year and that helped us,” added Fox, whose team won the Big East and PVC championships before capturing the regional and state titles.
Fox said they were blessed to have a “very strong senior leader” in Sawyer, who will cheer for NCAA Division II Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich. in the fall.
“She will do well at the college level, for sure,” said Fox.
The Eagles should be formidable for years to come.
In addition to Leighton and Calie Reece, sophomores Noelle Towne, Molly Smith, Lily Alley, Whitney Jordan, Ally Brown, Kaylee Bockus and Sumner transfer Sage Brown will return along with a pair of freshmen Grace Robinson and Katie Clark.
“And we have some incredible athletes coming in,” said Fox. “We definitely have a bright future, for sure.
“They will all have to work (hard). It’s a tough sport. But we definitely have a lot to look forward to,” added Fox.
