The Pembroke Academy spirit squad kept its word.

Following a second-place finish at the 2008 Class I winter competition, team members had a message for head coach Donna Ong.

“They said last year, ‘Well, we were runner up this year, we’ll win it next year,’” said Ong. “They weren’t kidding.”

Ong’s Spartans edged Bedford – champions at the fall competition – on Saturday, March 14, to earn the state title and a spot at New Englands, besting a young Bulldog group by .5 points.

Bedford was a main competitor during the regular season this year for the Spartans; each team beat the other at least once leading up to the Class I contest.

“We’re only a second-year team, so we don’t totally know what’s out there. Pembroke stuck out in our mind this year,” said Jennifer Mason, Bedford’s head coach. “We don’t really have any rivals since we are such a new team, but Pembroke was someone we were worried about.”

Pembroke was forced to perform without Brittany Fleury; the sophomore tore her ACL the previous week while competing in Concord. “She was hobbling, but she was there,” said Ong. “I know she was going through it in her head.”

The sophomore watched her team’s routine alongside her coach, who was forced to make changes in the routine before her team arrived at Southern New Hampshire University.

“I threw some things together, and I was just hoping they would look OK,” said Ong. “This is a team that is pretty amazing, and they are truly athletes. They’re selfless and focused. They have a lot of fire and determination, and obviously confidence.”

Ong said there wasn’t just one aspect that led to her team’s title.

“I couldn’t believe it. It was a money-maker routine. Everything was on the money,” said the coach, who was assisted by Danielle Yeaton. “It was on time, synchronized. It was solid. I never move when I watch their routines, and I was up and on my feet.”

Team members include captains Melanie Lussier, Jennifer MacKenzie and Ashley Pelissier, as well as Fleury, Jennifer Cheney, Madyson Caruso, Kennedi Duval, Kaitlyn Frederickson, Alyssa L’Heureux, Kimberly L’Heureux, Molly LaPlume, Kristen Palmer, Chelsea Pritchard, Ashley Schaefer and Jess Smith.