January may have seemed to drag on for many, but for dance/drill teams, those extra weeks before the season’s first competition are often a welcome gift.
Every additional hour of practice being essential as teams refine their routines and prepare to embark on the journey toward the state championships.
Whether that path resembles a smooth highway or a rugged off-road adventure, it’s an apt metaphor for the dedication and perseverance required among teams working towards their goals in competitive dance and drill. The month concluded with the first team event of 2026 -- Gresham’s Mount Hood Winter Rhythm competition.
A handful of teams were brave enough to be the first of the year to share their work. Jazz, Traditional, Pom, and Hip Hop categories were represented, and high school teams that took the floor were from Aloha, Mountain View, Newport, Parkrose, Pendleton, Scappoose, Sunset, Tigard, Tualatin, and the host team Gresham. Also competing in their own divisions were middle school teams West Linn, Synergy, and McCarty.
The routines we saw at Gresham over the weekend were also routines that may have appeared in the fall. Joining that line-up were several works presented for the first time, offering a fresh perspective. Whether they were established routines with some tweaks here and there for a more complete picture, or teams sharing new work for the first time, all the routines are making their way in a field of competitors towards the State Championships in March.
Teams are allowed to take a maximum of two routines to the OSAA State Championships, with the first routine allowed without a qualifying score. Nearly all teams are hoping to qualify their second routine for the championships by receiving a score of 70 or higher.
Many teams have already earned qualification for a second routine in the Hip Hop, Jazz, or Pom categories, as fall competitions serve as qualifying events. In the coming weeks, additional routines in these categories are expected to qualify, along with new qualifications in the Traditional and Show categories.
Gresham was the first event of the Dance/Drill season to have the Traditional category in the line-up. Although entries were light at Gresham, the field will certainly grow as the season progresses. Tualatin and Sunset competed in the 6A division, and Scappoose and Newport occupied the 1A-5A division. Congratulations to Tualatin, nabbing first place and the highest score of the day with an 88.11. Scappoose took the lead for the 1A-5A group, scoring a 72.67.
Moving on to the Jazz Category, also divided into a 6A group and a 1A-5A group, Tualatin took home another first place finish here in the 6A group. Parkrose claimed the top spot for 1A-5A. Tualatin’s 84.50 in this category was the second highest score of the day, making Tualatin’s first competition of the year a noteworthy statement on the scoreboard.
Tualatin also competed in Pom (6A), and landed in second place under Tigard. Tigard was a decisive winner in the category with a score of 82.28. In the 1A-5A group, Scappoose had the winning Pom routine with an even 80.00, and their second win of the day.
Joining the list of teams with double wins, Parkrose’s Hip Hop routine took first place for the 1A-5A group. Parkrose scored a 75.83, edging out Mountain View’s score by about a point. A close round among the four teams in this group: Parkrose, Mountain View, Pendleton, and Scappoose. The host team took home first place for the 6A Hip Hop group, with Gresham scoring a 76.39.
Although only two routines per team are allowed at the State Championships, many teams choose to toss around three routines in three categories at this point in the season in order to put forward their best work when the time comes for the championship trophy battle.
There is always a bit of an undesirable but necessary element within the 1A-5A teams to strategically move forward with a routine that will allow for category independence between the 1A-4A groups and the 5A groups. 6A teams often have plenty of participants to remain independence in each category, but each classification and category must have a minimum of five teams, otherwise they will be combined. This threshold has become more and more difficult in recent years for 1A-4A and 5A. A bit of scoring math, a bit of chess-like strategy, and a bit of luck is what it takes, but nobody can decisively predict what the final rosters will be for Jazz, Traditional, Hip Hop, and Pom.
Let’s not forget our drill down finalists at the Gresham event. As always a novice (first year participants) and an advanced field of competitors participated with top 10 results in each. For the novice group, the finalists were Vanessa Diaz (Parkrose), Nevaeh Duenas (Tualatin), Maddy Graham (Gresham), Charlotte Harkin (Gresham), Kaylee Lillie (Pendleton), Katie Lin (Scappoose), Fiona Maxwell (Gresham), Eden Stevens (Parkrose), Amy White (Gresham) and Hillary Vu (Parkrose). In the advanced group, the finalists were Cierra Arstill-Brown (Scappoose), Ryan Coy (Pendleton), Ellie Geesey (Pendleton), Zoe Inukai (Parkrose), Grace Lambert (Parkrose), Abby Lemen (Scappoose), Julia Li (Sunset), Ruby Nunley (Parkrose), Aurora O’Neill (Scappoose), and Abbey Rosenlund (Scappoose). Each team is allowed to enter up to eight dancers to compete at the State Championships in drill down, so many of the names you see repeated from week to week here may also be a name called at the State Championships. A fun way for individual dancers to compete for a bit of recognition.
First Place FInishes - Mount Hood Winter Rhythm
- Traditional (6A): Tualatin (88.11)
- Jazz (6A): Tualatin (84.50)
- Pom (6A): Tigard (82.28)
- Pom (1A-5A): Scappoose (80.00)
- Hip Hop (6A): Gresham (76.39)
- Hip Hop (1A-5A): Parkrose (75.83)
- Traditional (1A-5A): Scappoose (72.67)
- Jazz (1A-5A): Parkrose (71.39)
- all results
Not seen at the Gresham event, but a major player in the drama of Dance/Drill, will be the Show category. Guaranteed to be a single group of 1A-6A teams throughout the season, we will get our first glimpse of the field next week, with Canby and Philomath both hosting events. More teams, more scores, and one more week closer to the OSAA State Championships on March 20 and 21.
healeyjamesr@gmail.com
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