The Sweet Home High School Huskiettes dance team placed ninth in the preliminary round of the OSAA state dance competition on Friday at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.
The top seven teams advanced to the final round on Saturday, and Valley Catholic, with 91.44 points, won the state championship in 1A/2A/3A/4A division, which now combines large and small teams.
Four teams finished behind Sweet Home, which scored 67.44.
The division had 17 teams, said Sweet Home Coach Eohe Howerton, but some dropped off before state because the large and small divisions were combined. Sweet Home, which had 13 team members this year, has been a member of the small division.
No small teams moved on to finals this year, she said.
“We knew that was kind of how it would be,” Howerton said, but “it’s about the experience for the girls.”
Howerton praised the top teams at the state competition. Some of those teams have been winning championships for the past 15 years, and they’re “amazing.”
The girls did a good job this season, Howerton said. “Whenever we compete against small teams, we are right up there.”
Competing at state were seniors Mikaela Batchelor and Coco Tairuku; juniors Ilima Walker, Kailey Harrington, Hayden Soland, Dana Hiett and Jackie Cheshire, and sophomores Zoe Denbo, Tori Ingram and Marissa Green; and freshmen Dez Kimble, Hazel Blank an Erica McCoy.
“I think it was the best performance of all 13 girls,” Howerton said. It was also one of the few with all 13 girls, with Cheshire and Walker also competing in cheerleading. “It was a great performance overall.”
As is always the case, she said, they still had room for improvement. More dancers would help improve their score.
“Overall, it was a good year,” Howerton said. The team brought home five trophies, including four in the traditional fall season and one in the OSAA-sanctioned competition season.