Sherwood takes home first in Pom and and Traditional at the Sprague competition.

The last day of February brought teams together on Saturday at Sprague and Pendleton high schools.

Teams are certainly feeling the free-fall towards the state championships on March 20 and 21, as the competitions on Saturday were the second to last qualification weekend before the big event on the championship stage. 

Pendleton’s Hearts in Motion event had three high school teams in attendance – Grant Union, Lincoln, and the host team Pendleton. Sprague’s event was a full day with seventeen teams. Amity, Astoria, Bend, Glencoe, Lake Oswego, Lebanon, Marshfield, North Eugene, Oregon City, Sherwood, Silverton, South Albany, Valor Christian, West Linn, Westview, Wilsonville, and Sprague Oly Dancers as hosts. 

In Pendleton, Traditional, Pom, Jazz, and Hip Hop routines took the floor, with Rhythmic Mode delivering powerful performances at their own event. The team captured first place in Traditional, Pom, and Hip Hop, showcasing versatility across multiple style, receiving scores landing solidly in the mid-70s, with marks of 75.89, 74.33, and 76.67, respectively.

Lincoln also hit the 70s mark with their Jazz routine, earning a 70.33 and first place.  This score also qualified Lincoln to take a second routine to the State Championships!

Sprague’s event brought together some powerhouse teams that will no doubt face-off with close calls all the way to the State Championships.  

Noteworthy high scoring rounds had Sherwood and Lake Oswego at the top of the pyramid. In the largest category grouping of the day, Lake Oswego claimed a win in the Hip Hop (6A) category against a line-up of six teams. The Lakers 87.67 landed just over Sherwood’s 86.78. 

In the Pom (6A) category, Sherwood flipped the script and edged out Lake Oswego with scores of 88.39 and 87.83, respectively.  

Although Lake Oswego didn’t have any challengers in the Jazz (6A) category, they still managed to earn the highest score of the entire event. A not-to-shabby 89.22 was awarded to a lovely performance of their routine, “Eternity.”

Jazz for the 5A grouping was a bit more competitive. Lebanon and Silverton have had continued success in this category, with Lebanon’s 73.89 score earning them first place. Overall the Jazz (5A) scores took a slight dip compared to previous events, but subtle swings can happen from venue to venue.  

Lebanon also went home with the first place trophy in Pom (5A), scoring 76.39. Giving Lebanon a shake for their pom-poms was Wilsonville, not too far behind with a solid 75.00.

Pom (1A-4A) went to Marshfield, scoring 71.11 against Valor Christian. 

Also divided into three different groupings was Traditional. In the 6A group, Sherwood took home another first place against the host team, Sprague.   

The Traditional (5A) group included three teams, with Silverton’s 77.28 a solid winning score for the day. A pseudo coin-flip for second and third, as Wilsonville and South Albany were so close you’d have to move into 100ths of points to find the difference. Wilsonville at 72.33 and South Albany at 72.28, a hair-splitting difference.

The Traditional (1A-4A) win went to Marshfield, but the margin was razor-thin again, with Astoria finishing a close second. Scores of 74.89 and 74.50 made for another near tie, a reminder that on a different day—or with a different judging panel—the results could easily have flipped.

Returning to the Hip Hop category, Astoria took home first for the 1A-4A group, and South Albany landed the top spot for the 5A group.  

Show was also on the menu, and Sprague certainly took note of their first place against North Eugene.  

Many of the category divisions were fairly small at the Sprague event, with most groupings having three teams or less. The benefit of this layout is that 1A-4A and 5A had a slightly more clear representation of their classifications in competition.  

No doubt several categories will ultimately be combined into a 1A-5A group at the State Championships, but in the meantime, it is nice for teams to compete in a more equitable line-up. 

Hearts in Motion (Pendleton) - First Place Finishes

• Hip Hop: Pendleton (76.67)
• Traditional: Pendleton (75.89)
• Pom: Pendleton (74.33)
• Jazz: Lincoln (70.33)

Sprague Dance Festival - First Place Finishes

• Jazz (6A): Lake Oswego (89.22)
• Pom (6A): Sherwood (88.39)
• Hip Hop (6A): Lake Oswego (87.67)
• Traditional (6A): Sherwood (83.94)
• Show: Sprague (79.78)
• Traditional (5A): Silverton (77.28)
• Pom (5A): Lebanon (76.39)
• Traditional (1A-4A): Marshfield (74.89)
• Jazz (5A): Lebanon (73.89)
• Hip Hop (5A): South Albany (73.72)
• Pom (1A-4A): Marshfield (71.11)
• Hip Hop (1A-4A): Astoria (70.72)

The final weekend of competition before the State Championships is on March 7. Forest Grove, Centennial, and Sheldon will host dynamic events with nearly all the teams hitting the floor for one last scoring opportunity before their final bow in a few weeks.