BANGOR — According to Gardiner Area High School cheerleading coach Jeanne Moody, nerves got the best of her team at last year’s Eastern B regional cheerleading championships in a disappointing eighth-place finish.

As snow fell outside the Cross Insurance Center Saturday, the Tigers were equally cool and graceful inside on their way to a third place finish and a taste of redemption. Four-time defending Class B champ Hermon once again took top honors with 141 points, followed by Ellsworth with 131.6 and Gardiner with 128.2.

“That was our first goal, to hit your routine, and second was to get to states,” Moody said. “They hit their routine the best they’ve ever done. It was awesome.”

Presque Isle (123.5), John Bapst (120.4) and Old Town (113.2) will also join the Hawks, Eagles and Tigers at states, as the top six qualify for the Feb. 7 competition at the Augusta Civic Center.

For Gardiner, it was a significant improvement from Monday’s performance at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B championships in which the Tigers suffered a five-point deduction and finished third with a score of 115.5.

“I break down the score sheet for them and I write down the judges comments,” Moody said. “It was easy points for smile, energy, jumps and hitting stunts. We worked up the scoresheet and we practiced all week.”

For returning team members like Molly Dow, Mariah Lang, Brooke Fournier, Selina Gregoire, Alyssa Desjardin, Siarah Bailey, Gabby Sullivan and Victoria Nelder, Saturday’s performance was the culmination of months of hard work and determination not to suffer the same fate as last season.

“At the beginning of this season we said last year is last year,” Moody said. “It takes hours, hours and hours to get that routine on the floor.

“… You start and you just put your routine together. I put it on at basketball games and it just got better and better. They wanted to go (to regionals) and do well. They worked hard.”

The differences between this and last year were evident from the moment the Tigers stepped on the mat Saturday, according to Moody, as the Tigers’ strong start helped carry them through the remainder of the routine.

“They hit the opening stunts so they had confidence for the rest of the routine,” Moody said.

A number of other local teams also competed in Bangor Saturday, as Erskine (98.6), Waterville (98.2), Mount View (96.4), Winslow (91.9) and Nokomis (80.8) placed 10th through 14th, respectively.

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley