It was a busy day for Dance/Drill on Saturday, with Forest Grove, Philomath, and Centennial (Metro) hosting dozens of teams in their gyms.
These events were the final opportunities for teams to share their work before the OSAA championships in less than two weeks.
With these final three events, a few more teams have qualified two routines to the championships and the category divisions will soon be set. We will learn later in the week if certain category classifications will combine into larger groups, or remain independent between 1A-4A, 5A, and 6A participating schools. In most cases, categories within 1A-4A and 5A often combine, since there is a five team minimum to remain independent in a category. Fingers crossed there is some equitable independence between classifications this season.
With multiple events over the weekend, over 40 teams shared more than 80 performances on three different stages. The Centennial event, commonly known as Metro, was the highest scoring venue for some remarkable teams.
At the Metro competition on the east side, Centennial played host to teams from Barlow, Bend, David Douglas, Gresham, Lake Oswego, Lincoln, Nelson, Parkrose, Pendleton, Reynolds, Sherwood, Silverton, Sunset, Tualatin, Wilsonville.
At this event, Sherwood continued a stellar season with three incredible wins. In Pom (6A), Sherwood’s 91.50 was the highest score of the weekend, outscoring another remarkable routine by Lake Oswego, which received an 89.11.
Sherwood’s Traditional (6A) also entered the “Superior” realm with another 90 in that category. Their third win was in Hip Hop (6A) with a score of 89.94. The question remains, which two routines will we see from Sherwood on the Salem Pavilion floor?
For the first time this season, Silverton’s Jazz (4A-5A) was knocked down a couple notches by Pendleton and Parkrose, but the scores are so close that it is still anyone’s victory at the state championships. Parkrose also did well in Hip Hop (4A-5A) and Pom (5A), receiving first place in those lineups.
Silverton maintained their first place run with their Traditional (4A-5A) at Metro.
Rounding out the winner’s circle at the Metro event was Lake Oswego’s Jazz (6A) against a long list of competitors. The Traditional (6A) and Jazz (6A) categories are shaping up to be quite the list of teams for Dance/Drill’s final hurrah.
Moving over to the west side of the Portland Metro area, Forest Grove’s spacious gym was a perfect venue for attending teams that included Aloha, Astoria, Canby, Clackamas, Forest Grove, Glenco, Mountainside, Oregon City, Rex, Putnam, Scappoose, Sprague, Valley Catholic, West Linn.
Most of the Show category teams made their appearance at Forest Grove, with Sprague maintaining their lead against Canby, Clackamas, Putnam, and West Linn. With less than a two point spread between the top three teams, and six Show teams competing at the State Championships, it seems that a roll of the dice could predict the winner in a couple weeks.
Valley Catholic continued to dazzle with their first place finishes in Jazz (1A-6A) and Traditional (1A-5A). Clackamas also continued their success in Traditional (6A), receiving the highest score at this venue with an 86.11.
Rounding out the wins at Forest Grove were Astoria’s Hip Hop (1A-5A), Forest Grove’s Hip Hop (6A), and Mountainside’s Pom (6A). Scappoose was the only 1A-5A Pom entry with an enthusiastic performance.
Moving south to Philomath, teams from Lebanon, Marshfield, Newberg, Newport, North Eugene, South Albany, Sweet Home, Thurston, West Albany, Willamette took the floor with Philomath as hosts.
Although Forest Grove and Philomath were lower scoring events overall, Philomath had some noteworthy successes for teams.
Congratulations to North Eugene, qualifying their second routine to the state championships. Although final numbers need to be organized and arranged, an independent Traditional category for each classification looks promising at the championship event.
Lebanon had a successful day at Philomath with two wins. Pom (5A-6A) and Jazz (1A-6A) went to them.
West Albany also went home with two wins, taking the Hip Hop (5A) and Traditional (1A-6A) categories. West Albany also received the highest score of the Philomath event in Traditional against six teams.
Rounding out the wins at the Philomath event were Newport’s Hip Hop (1A-4A), Newberg’s Hip Hop (6A), and Marshfield’s Pom (1A-4A).
COMPETITION RESULTS AVAILABLE HERE
Metro Competition -- First Place Finishes
- Jazz (4A-5A): Pendleton (72.94)
- Jazz (6A): Lake Oswego (86.83)
- Hip Hop (4A-5A): Parkrose (78.72)
- Hip Hop (6A): Sherwood (89.94)
- Traditional (4A-5A): Silverton (79.50)
- Traditional (6A): Sherwood (90.00)
- Pom (5A): Parkrose (74.94)
- Pom (6A): Sherwood (91.50)
- All results
All Results Forest Grove - First Place Finishes
- Traditional (1A-5A): Valley Catholic (80.11)
- Traditional (6A): Clackamas (86.11)
- Hip Hop (6A): Forest Grove (74.94)
- Hip Hop (1A-5A): Astoria (82.44)
- Pom (1A-5A): Scappoose (71.22)
- Pom (6A): Mountainside (80.94)
- Jazz: Valley Catholic (82.56)
- Show: Sprague (83.44)
- All Results
Philomath Competition - First Place Finishes
- Hip Hop (1A-4A): Newport (65.78)
- Hip Hop (5A): West Albany (78.22)
- Hip Hop (6A): Newberg (72.61)
- Jazz: Lebanon (79.28)
- Pom (1A-4A): Marshfield (77.00)
- Pom (5A-6A): Lebanon (79.56)
- Traditional: West Albany (83.00)
- All results
As always, each event had a drill down competition for Novice and Advanced participants. At the state championships, teams are allowed to send eight dancers to the floor for a drill down competition. 1A-4A, 5A, and 6A teams are separated into their own groups for an advanced drill down finals. Many of the names and faces that have been seen among the finalists at all the competitions this season will also be seen on the state floor, hoping to be crowned the best of the best for drill down this year.
Over the weekend, teams planning to attend the OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships were required to register their final choices for the categories they want to enter, qualification verification pending. In the next several days, we will learn how the cookie crumbles as far as the categories that remain independent for 1A-4A, 5A, and 6A. Teams with three routines hold most of the cards for where categories will fill up, as they make their two final choices.
This season, each event varied in curious ways, with scores and outcomes from one weekend to the next fluctuating quite a bit, sometimes with individual teams having a 5-10 point swing. With events hosting different teams, different lineups, and different combinations of judges for each category, any method of prediction for the final outcomes is truly an impossible task. The Dance/Drill State Championships is bound to be one of the most stomach churning, nail biting, and unpredictable competitions we’ve seen for many years.
The OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships will be held at the Salem Pavilion on March 21 and 22.
healeyjamesr@gmail.com
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