The Bangor High School cheerleading team had to replace one freshman with another just days before the biggest competition of the year.
Ari LeBlanc suffered an upper body injury in practice and Bangor co-head coach Stephanie Crane learned on Wednesday morning that LeBlanc wouldn’t be able to compete on Saturday.
So Crane texted Nevaeh Jones on Wednesday afternoon that she will be taking LeBlanc’s place. The team held an emergency one-hour practice with her that afternoon before the team participated in a showcase event at the high school.
Jones has been practicing with the team but had never performed until the showcase Wednesday night.
“She slid in and she was awesome,” Crane said. “Nevaeh is very athletic and she’s a wonderful kid who works really hard. And the team was so supportive. It was really nice to see.”
The Bangor cheerleading team will fight for its second straight Class A championship and third in five years at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday.
Classes B and C will kick off the competition at 10 a.m. and Class D will begin at 4 p.m. with Class A to follow.
Crane, who co-coaches the team with Kate Robichauid, said the Class A competition is going to be a close one with powerhouses Biddeford and Lewiston — which have each won six state titles since 2008 — Sanford and Oxford Hills of South Paris all being legitimate contenders.
“If all of us hit our routines cleanly without any falls and do it to the best of our abilities, it will be decided by tenths of a point,” said Crane, who has an experienced and battle-tested squad led by eight seniors.
Biddeford won back-to-back titles in 2019 and ’20 for its fifth and sixth titles since 2008. Bangor won the virtually held championship last year. Bangor also won it in 2018.
Lewiston has won six since 2011.
Bangor and Biddeford won their respective regionals last weekend.
In Class B, Kristie Reed’s Hermon High School Hawks will be hunting for a sixth consecutive state title and 12th in 13 seasons. The 2016 Old Town team is the only team to wrest one away from them.
Hermon won the Class B North regional a week ago and Medomak Valley of Waldoboro captured the B South regional and is seeking its first ever state championship.
Hermon beat Medomak Valley by 3.2 points a year ago.
Central of Corinth and Lisbon are no strangers to the podium in Class C and won regional crowns a week ago.
Central won state titles in 2012, ’14 and ’18 and Lisbon triumphed in 2015, ’17 and ’19.
Sumner of East Sullivan won it in 2020 and Monmouth Academy claimed the title a year ago.
Penobscot Valley of Howland captured the state Class D crown in 2021, ending Central Aroostook of Mars Hills’ string of seven straight championships. It had won 12 in 13 years.
However, the Howlers are up in Class C this season and Monmouth Academy, which is in a co-op arrangement with Winthrop, has dropped to Class D.
Monmouth/Winthrop posted a convincing win in the Class D North/South regional last weekend.