Canby and Sheldon hosted another weekend of dance/drill competition at separate events held on Saturday.

They opened up their gymnasiums to several teams sharing their routines in the Pom, Jazz, Hip Hop, Show, and Traditional categories. Sheldon also had one team enter the Kick category, setting the stage for all six of the categories currently being offered as teams journey through the final seven weeks of the dance/drill season.  

The Canby Cougars hosted 24 performances by teams from Barlow, Clackamas, Estacada, Lincoln, Nelson, North Eugene, Pendleton, Putnam, Reynolds, Silverton, Southridge, Sprague, and Valley Catholic, all having a variety of routines to share. The categories with the most entries were Show, 5A/6A Pom, and 1A-5A Traditional, having four entries in each. 

Show had a strong field of competitors at Canby, being the first event of the season with multiple teams in the category. Canby Cougars had an exhibition Show performance as well, but did not compete. Two teams, Estacada and North Eugene, shared routines in this category for the first time ever, and represented themselves very well against several seasoned Show teams. Sets, props, prop pops, and floor unfurling, OH MY!! 

Congratulations to the Clackamas Cavalettes with their first-place win in the Show Category. Another dynamic performance by the Cavalettes was their winning Jazz routine, receiving an 84.50, the highest score of the day at either event. Along with Clackamas, Valley Catholic and Lincoln also walked away with two wins each in the categories they entered at the Canby competition. 

Many of the teams who competed at the Canby competition also managed to reach a score of 70 or higher, which along with other parameters, is a qualifying element for a second routine to be competed at the OSAA championships in March. Along with the qualifying score, teams must also meet the qualifying time limit and number of performers to be able to compete a second routine at state. Many routines are well on their way to qualification.  

The competition at Sheldon, a slightly smaller event with 17 performances, was a mix of offerings from both high school teams and middle school teams. The Pom, Traditional, and Hip Hop line up was the most dynamic, having three teams in each category. Grant Union, Milwaukie, Philomath, Sweet Home, Thurston, West Albany, West Linn, and Willamette were in attendance with some fun routines.

At Sheldon, all high school classifications were grouped together by category.  Of the high school team category offerings, Milwaukie’s Hip Hop had the highest score of the competition with a 75.22. 

The top two placements for each event are listed below, with school classification listed when categories were split:

 Canby Competition

• Show: Clackamas (79.67), Sprague (72.06)
• Pom (5A/6A): Lincoln (73.22), Putnam (72.72)
• Hip Hop (6A): Southridge (64.00)
• Traditional (1A-5A): Valley Catholic (81.22), Silverton (74.56)
• Traditional (6A): Lincoln (75.00), Barlow (71.50)
• Jazz (1A-4A): Valley Catholic (81.00), Pendleton (73.39)
• Jazz (5A): Putnam (76.33), Silverton (72.89)
• Jazz (6A): Clackamas (84.50), Sprague (76.89) 

Sheldon Competition

• Show: West Linn (69.56)
• Pom: Milwaukie (62.00), Grant Union (51.44)
•  Kick: Thurston (68.56)
• Traditional: West Albany (75.06), Philomath (65.22)
• Jazz: Thurston (69.50), Philomath (62.83)
• Hip Hop: Milwaukie (75.22), Philomath (70.56)

A drill down top 10 in novice and advanced were awarded at the Canby Competition, and a top five in each level was awarded at the Sheldon Competition. As the season moves towards the State Championship, dancers who have done well in drill down are nominated by their coaches to compete in drill down at State. Each team can allow up to eight drill down competitors at state, so many dancers are hoping for strong drill down outcomes throughout the season as they work towards representing their team one final time. Simon Says, “Keep up the good work, dancers!”

Next week, Philomath and Tigard play hosts to another collection of routines and teams. Stay tuned for more from dance and drill, as each week sets more of the stage for the state championships on March 15-16 at the Salem Pavilion.