Representing the Lewiston High School All-Region Cheering squad are, left to right: Morgan Allen, Hailee Ingerson, Tawni Zamrock, and Alison Porter, back.
The drive home from KVACs was long and sad and uncomfortable.
The Lewiston cheerleading team had lost — for the first time since 2008, the Blue Devils were not KVAC champions.
“We’re definitely not used to losing,” senior Tawni Zamrock said. “We knew that wasn’t something that we wanted for our team at all.”
The KVAC performance was good, but second place is frustrating for a program that had won two straight state championships and seven consecutive regional titles.
As hard as it was to take that L, the Blue Devils say it turned around their season.
“It really kind of opened our eyes that we can’t win everything, and it kind of humbled us,” senior Hailee Ingerson said.
The team showed up at the next practice with a different mentality.
“We needed that (loss),” Zamrock said. “It made us know that we don’t get handed those wins. It was like, OK, we really have to work for this, we have to work together.”
Twelve days after KVACs, the Blue Devils redeemed themselves, edging KVAC-champion Bangor by two points, 87-85, to claim their eighth consecutive Class A North region championship.
Two weeks later, Lewiston dominated the Class A state championships, earning an astounding score of 95 to claim the program’s third straight state title, and sixth in seven years.
“We got off the floor knowing everything was so perfect,” Zamrock said. “It was the best feeling ever.”
The feeling was especially sweet for the four seniors, Zamrock, Ingerson, Alison Porter and Morgan Allen.
“The seniors, we talked before, that was our last time performing in Maine together,” Ingerson said. “So we kind of talked to each other and brought the energy up.”
The Blue Devils advanced to the New England championships last month in Providence, Rhode Island, where they took second place with another quality performance.
Zamrock said that state performance is what will always stand out in her mind when she thinks about this year’s team.
“I have a lot of memories that I won’t ever forget, but definitely states is going to be the one thing that replays in my mind about this team,” she said. “Hitting my senior year, ending on that note was the best thing that happened.”
Representing the Lewiston High School All-Region Cheering squad are, left to right: Morgan Allen, Hailee Ingerson, Alison Porter and Tawni Zamrock
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