BY MATT SCHOOLEY

It didn’t take the Bedford High School spirit team long to reach the top.

After a successful first year, the Bulldogs won the Class I competition handily, besting its closest opponent by 13 points. During the competition on Sunday, Nov. 9, Bedford scored 163 points to outdistance second place Plymouth.

While competing without any upperclassmen has led to difficult starts for many Bedford sports teams, spirit head coach Jenn Mason said the opposite is true for her team, which finished third at last year’s competition.

“We didn’t have to do any ‘getting to know each other’ exercises,” said Mason. “They’d already been a team for a year. That was an advantage for us. They know what works and how to relate with me and each other. We got all of those bugs out of the way last year, and we skipped over that this year.”

Mason said she is impressed with how quickly her team rose to the top of the Class I field.

“I don’t know if it’s hit me yet, because it’s such a big accomplishment,” Mason said. “To be coming out with the scores we’re getting, we won by 13 points, which in cheerleading is a huge score. We really dominated on Sunday, and I feel like everything just came together.”

The Bulldogs team includes freshmen Darcy Brennan, Alison VanDerHeyden and Ciera Wallace, as well as sophomores Alyssa Cloutier, Erin Connors, Amanda Haskell, Ashley Kendrigan, Morgan Proulx, Jade Robinson and Ally Philips.

Without any seniors, the Bedford roster is led by juniors Courtney Healy, Jessica Henault, Matte Horton, Mary Kroeger, Meredith LaRocque, Ashley Marcoux, Molly Maznek, Alexandra McCarthy, Whitney Mikutowicz, Emily Slivka and Zofia Thibeault.

Mason said the victory sets the bar high for the winter season, as well as next year.

“I feel like it’s a lot of pressure,” said Mason. “We have the pressure of winning again in the winter, and in the following year when they actually are seniors. They’re going to want to do it again their senior year. It’s really important to them.”