It wasn’t the trophy they wanted, but the Huskiettes scored the highest point total in recent history Saturday at the OSAA Dance/ Drill state competition at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.
“ We’ve never gotten this high in my seven years of coaching” Coach Kristen Ashcraft said. The Huskiettes performed to “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance, a number that starts with a march-like opening before launching into the rest of the song – and a “tragic” finale for the troupe’s only male member, Kyle Lewis.
Ashcraft said the crowd “just went crazy” and “many” other coaches told her it was the Huskiettes’ best performance ever, but apparently the judges weren’t impressed enough, scoring Sweet Home at 70.8, which left them in seventh place – two out of the trophies.
“They did really well,” she said of her team, which choreographed the performance in her living room. She noted that many other teams pay professional choreographers, who then teach them the routine.
Stayton won the 4A championship, followed by Crook County, Scappoose, Philomath and Gladstone.
The performance was the last for five seniors – Michaella “Tree” Parks, Lewis, Kaitlyn Long, Rachel Thomas and Krystal Juza.
Juza, who is a straight-A student, received an academic award at the state competition, Ashcraft said.
The Huskiettes put on their annual home exhibition Monday night, March 14, to a packed house in the Main Gym. The Sweet Home Junior High also performed, along with Huskiette alumni and dance troupes from Cascade Performing Arts and Sole Expressions, an Albany studio operated by former Huskiette all-state dancer Chelsey Gagner and her family.