It was a great day at Tigard and Philomath as they opened their doors to another weekend of dance/drill competition over the weekend.

For teams in the midst of crafting new routines for 2024, the works are starting to take shape and looking more complete each week. Routines being carried over from the 2023 competitions are still going strong and looking more polished with each appearance. 

Tigard had a slightly larger line-up of contributions, filling up the Jazz, Pom, Traditional, and Hip Hop categories. At Philomath, teams also shared routines in these categories, as well as one Show routine by North Eugene. The only category missing from the competition stage this week was Kick, but the performances were spectacular nonetheless. Nearly 50 fabulous routines between the two events.

Tigard’s line-up was well balanced between the categories, having three to four entries in each. All categories at Tigard were either placed in a 5A/4A/3A/2A/1A division or a 6A division.  Teams in attendance were Astoria, Bend, David Douglas, Hillsboro, Lincoln, Mountainside, Parkrose, Scappoose, Silverton, Sunset, Tualatin, Westview, and Wilsonville.

Mountainside had an outstanding day, scoring 80.33 with their Traditional routine and 81.33 with their Jazz. Tualatin was right on Mountainside’s tail in Jazz with 80.72, making these two teams the highest scoring of the Tigard competition. There were some very narrow spreads between scores and final rankings at Tigard, so the judges clearly had to be on top of their numbers for this respectfully dynamic battle.  

At Philomath, school classifications broke down a bit differently than Tigard’s event, as several of the 4A/3A/2A/1A schools were in attendance and had their own division in many categories. Cheering each other on in competition were, Centennial, Corvallis, Grant Union, Marshfield, Mountain View, North Eugene, Sheldon, South Medford, West Albany, and the host team Philomath.

The 5A/4A/3A/2A/1A Hip Hop and 6A/5A Pom were the most competitive categories of the day with the most entries, but there was plenty of competition to go around. South Medford made the trip up north to Philomath to share their Hip-Hop routine and walked away with the highest score of the entire weekend receiving an 86.33. Philomath competition overall was a higher scoring event, having a handful of teams breaking the 80 point mark. Sheldon had quite a successful day receiving over an 80 in all three routines they performed.

Show category only had one entry over the weekend from North Eugene, a new addition to the category. So far, the team is excited about the voyage they have been on this season and can’t wait to see where the journey leads. Emma Spencer, a senior with North Eugene, says "Getting to dance Show is so exciting! There's a lot of work that goes into the story we're telling, i.e. more props, floors, and time, but it's so worth it. It gives the audience a real sense of what we're portraying, despite the leap of never having danced in show before, and I've had a blast doing it."

What a great weekend of dance! Listed below are the top two placing teams in each category and their scores. Congratulations to all teams who performed!

 Tigard Competition

• 1A-5A Hip Hop: Astoria (78.22), Parkrose (73.94)
• 6A Hip Hop: Tualatin (79.72), Westview (77.39)
• 1A-5A Jazz: Silverton (74.00), Parkrose (72.00)
• 6A Jazz: Mountainside (81.33), Tualatin (80.72)
• 1A-5A Pom: Parkrose (73.33), Wilsonville (69.72)
• 6A Pom: Mountainside (75.22), Lincoln (72.22)
• 1A-5A Traditional: Astoria (78.94), Scappoose (75.83)
• 6A Traditional: Mountainside (80.33), Sunset (76.06)

 

Philomath Competition

• 1A-5A Hip Hop: West Albany (77.06), Philomath (76.50)
• 6A Hip Hop: South Medford (86.33), Sheldon (82.56)
• 1A-4A Jazz: Philomath (66.72), Grant Union (58.22)
• 5A-6A Jazz: Sheldon (83.50), Centennial (76.72)
• 1A-4A Pom: Marshfield (75.89), Grant Union (59.83)
• 5A-6A Pom: Sheldon (82.67), Centennial (72.72)
• Show: North Eugene (67.78)
• 1A-4A Traditional: Marshfield (77.39), Philomath (64.56)
• 5A-6A Traditional: West Albany (79.94)

Missing from the competition floor in Oregon this weekend were Sherwood and Lake Oswego, but they were very busy in sunny Florida as they took their best work to the Dance Team Union’s National Competition.  Although national competition is not something many Oregon teams participate in on a regular basis, the dancers of these two teams represented Oregon well on the national stage.  Lake Oswego earned 5th in Large Pom and 8th in Large Hip Hop, and Sherwood earned 9th in Large Hip Hop. It was a lot of fun rooting on these Oregon dancers from across the country.

Parkrose plays host on Feb. 17, and given that it’s the only event of the weekend, it is expected to be quite a busy day.