Sweet Home’s dance/drill squad placed 13th in the 1A/2A/3A/4A division at the OSAA state championships in Portland Friday and Saturday.
The Huskiettes scored 64.58, which was their best outcome of the season, Coach Kristen Ashcraft said.
Stayton won the state title with 91.31 points, followed by Valley Catholic (84.47), Gladstone (84.25), Marshfield (80.56) and Crook County (78.86). Philomath was eighth with 71.75.
“I’m really proud of my kids,” she said. “Our goal was to increase our score from the previous competition, which they did. They improved all season. Their scores were definitely higher than last year.”
One of the challenges, she said, has been the sudden increase in the number of teams in the field, since OSAA administrators decided to combine the bottom four divisions and not divide the 17 teams into large- and small-squad, as the 5A and 6A divisions are.
“I danced 10 kids and Stayton danced 33,” Ashcraft said. A rule of thumb in dance/drill is that larger teams tend to score higher because the visual impact is more impressive for judges.
“But second-place Valley Catholic had 12 kids, so it can be done,” she added.
The team includes one senior, Cathy Cheshire; six sophomores, Mikaela Batchelor, Tonya Cook, Kaylee Dougerty, Kiesha Goble and Jackkie Ohmer; and four freshmen, Jackie Cheshire, Natasha Ellison, Kailey Harrington and Dana Hiett.
With that kind of youth, and more reinforcements expected from the junior high squad and elsewhere, Ashcraft said, the Huskiettes will be a team to reckon with in the next few years if they persevere.
“I told them at a team meeting, if nobody quits, when you’re juniors and seniors, we’re going to have a strong team,” she said.