Wednesday afternoon, January 29, the Busline League Cheerleading Competition was held at Medomak Middle School. Along with the Boothbay Wildcats, there were teams from Medomak, Oceanside, Great Salt Bay and the Bristol Consolidated School.

The competition consisted of first-round and second-round performances, with three judges scoring each team in each performance.
In the end the team scores were:

• First: Medomak River Hawks with 58
• Second: Oceanside Mariners with 51.65
• Third: Great Salt Bay Cougars with 42.3
• Fourth: Boothbay Wildcats with 35
• Fifth: Bristol Consolidated with 34.15

If one was to sit back and stop trying to analyze if cheering is a sport or not, what one with an open mind might see was a competition involving a large group (72) of mostly seventh and eighth graders (with a few sixth-graders mixed in) all working to give their best performance, while all the other teams cheered them on and supported them.

You do not always see this spirit of competition and such outstanding sportsmanship at the same time in many sports. Every routine was watched and cheered on by every team. They all warmed up together with a couple of cheers that set the stage for the day’s competition.

It was fun to watch how positive the gym became when a team started cheering loud positive cheers, not just for its girls, but every girl on the floor. It was something seen only in a few sports.
Boothbay team members were eighth-graders Uberita Lovely, Caitlin Chaousis, Evie Dolloff, Courtney Lewis; Elizabeth Ham, Annie Bryer, Kayla Lewis, Sierra Murray and Ashley Ames; and seventh-grader Grace Robinson. The coach was Lisa Tilton.

The Bristol Consolidated School team members were eighth-graders, Mia Hall, Cheyenne Cash, Lindsay Dallot and Emily Embury; and sixth-grader, Lauren Benner. The coach was Meredith Hughes
Members of the Medomak River Hawks were eighth-graders Ashley Kenniston, Rose Hickey, Megan Wright, Samantha Pelkey, Sierra Metcalf, Kaylee Meyer, Autumn Sproul, Alyssa Blackler, Adrianna Wadsworth, Erika Simmons, Rebekah Marks, Sophie Robbins, Naomi Kihn, Emily Wiley and Alyie Sprague; and seventh-graders Mikayla Timberlake, Mariah Grindle, Leah Wilcox, Molly Taylor, Nicole Demmons, Cassie Smeltzer, Kaitlyn Genthner, Jordan Hays and Vanessa MacDougall. The coach was Leanne Young.

Oceanside West Mariners were eighth-graders Lily Johnson, Erin Dugan,Lauren Darge, Kiara Robinson, Effie Monroe and Kaleeann Miller; seventh-graders, Kyla Fredericks, Lexi McMahon, Hailey Nickerson, Mikayla Jo Peasley, Hannah Simmons and Vanessa Wasielewki; and sixth-grader, Georgianna Chamas. The coach was Irene McGonagle, with assistant coaches Tiffany Darge and Caroline Curtis.

Great Salt Bay team members were eighth-graders Sammy Ober, Paige Gray, Mallory Oliver, MacKenzie Ford, Brianna Farrin, Haylee Gagnon, Zoe Hunt and Caitlin Betts; seventh-graders, Sydnee Lily, Shelby Collins, Tiffany Murray, Emily Harris, May Halm, Abi Gifford and Monica Staples; and sixth graders Ava Toscano, Alonna Galpin-Sigler, Makayla Bailey, Jenna Sullivan and Lucy Shamel. The coach was Brie Konitzki.