Biddeford takes the 3-peat

AUGUSTA — In its long history, Biddeford High School has laid claim to dominance in multiple sports.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, it was football. In recent years, it has swayed more to boys ice hockey.

However, neither squad, as popular in the city as both sports are, ever won three consecutive state championships.

On Saturday, the Biddeford cheerleading team staked its own dominance in school history, winning its third consecutive Maine Class A state championship.

“It’s so amazing, I don’t even know how to feel right now, this is the best feeling I’ve ever, ever experienced,” Biddeford captain Kaitlyn Dutremble said. “We worked so hard for this.”

The Tigers scored 161.5 points in the 12 team competition, edging out runner-up Lewiston by more than six points.

Since being included as a sport in Maine in 1987, Biddeford has collected four state championships, second most in Class A, behind Bonny Eagle’s six titles.

If the Tigers were to win the state championship next season, it would tie the school record for most consecutive state championships (the girls outdoor track team won four state titles from 1980-1983)and would also be the longest string of consecutive cheering championships in Class A history.

Teams competing for the championship were judged in five different categories during its routine, including tumbling, dance, jumps and motion technique.

The Tigers were the last of the 12 teams to perform its routine. Dutremble said the team wasn’t nervous.

“For me, it’s just more exciting,” Dutremble said. “I not to worry about the other teams, I just go out there and I just want to do the best that we can do, and then after that it’s out of our hands. As long as we do the best that we’re capable of then I’m happy with it.”

Under the tournament rules, each routine had a time limit of three minutes, and needed to include a cheer, a dance sequence, tumbling and a pyramid.

The maximum score a team could receive was 175 points.

Biddeford head coach Debbie Lebel said the Tigers put in tremendous work to perfect its routine each week.

“We practice just like everyone else, two hours a day, six days a week,” Lebel said. “They work extremely hard. We’ve gone through obstacles, but we’ve overcome them and they pulled it together.”

Dutremble added the Tigers have fun while working hard.

“We have tears, bruises,” Dutremble said. “We have so much stuff that goes on. More importantly, we laugh and have fun. It’s so fun to be with our team. We just always come together. We’ve had some rough times, we’ve had some injuries, some obstacles to overcome, but we got through them together.”

By winning the championship, the Tigers qualify as one of 20 teams competing at the New England championships, which will be hosted at the Providence Career and Technical Academy in Providence, R.I. on March 20.

Dutremble said she hopes the win gives the Tigers support from fellow Biddeford students.

“I really just hope that this gives us all the respect that we’ve been waiting for for so long from our school,” Dutremble said. “I really hope everyone realizes how much we work and how hard we have to work to get this done.”

Notes: Both Sanford and Wells also participated in the tournament. Sanford finished sixth out of Class A West schools, while Wells finished sixth out of Class B West schools.