Sunset team members pose with certificates after their drill down success.

Gladstone Gladettes were the hosts to eight teams competing at the third dance/drill competition of 2025 last weekend.

West Linn, Putnam, Lake Oswego, Sunset, Sheldon, Centennial, West Albany, Newport and Gladstone all came together for a small event showcasing fourteen routines in the Traditional, Show, Pom, Hip Hop, and Jazz categories.  

Putnam and West Linn, the second time this year for the two Show teams to face each other in competition, ended with Putnam’s 72.61 over West Linn’s 70.83. Both teams made ground with their scores since their showing at the Gresham competition a couple of weeks ago, with a flip in the placements this time around.  

So far this season, we have seen five Show category teams and the creativity they bring to the floor. At the Canby competition, Clackamas, Sprague, and Canby made their first appearances in this category. In the weeks to come, the Show category line-up for the State Championships will be revealed, with expectations of a smaller group than previous years.

Since the category style championships took effect, the Show category and the Kick category appear to be losing some ground when the Hip Hop, Traditional, Pom, and Jazz categories attract the attention of teams looking for more specific styles to showcase. 

At the Gladstone event, Hip Hop was the only category divided into separate classifications with a 1A-4A group of two teams, Gladstone and Newport, and a 5A-6A group, also with two teams, West Albany and Putnam.

Competition hosts Gladstone had the honor of taking first place for 1A-4A, and West Albany took home first for the 5A-6A group with an 81.72, the highest scoring routine at the event.  

West Albany also had a successful win in the Traditional category, receiving first place with a 74.83 over their only competitor in the category, Sunset. 

Lake Oswego shared their Pom routine for the first time this year, receiving an 80.06, and landing in the top spot against Sheldon’s 73.22. This category also only had two competitors. 

The largest category line-up of the day was Jazz, with a combined 1A-6A group. Sheldon, Sunset, Gladstone, and Centennial each shared their work, with Sheldon receiving a score of 76.50 and taking the category.

All results for the event, scores and placements, can be found here.

As usual, the novice and advanced drill down competition revealed top ten finalists in each group. West Linn had a strong showing in the novice group, with four dancers making the top ten, and Sunset did outstanding in the advanced round with six dancers making the top ten list.  

Drill down top ten finalists are as follows:  

• Novice: Graycie Schmidt, Evelyn Troxell, Emry Koviak, Aaliyah Raham, Jolene Rosborough, Jackline Oopong, Abigail Orme, Lordina Asamoah, Erin Ellson, and Alissa King.
• Advanced: Brooke Thomsen, Kaitlyn McCord, Nikita Chincholkar, Tara Shenoy, Julia Li, Alivia Nguyen-Payne, Maha Chamarthi, Lucille Brask, Dishitha Magesh, and Olivia Phan

The next Dance/Drill competition will be at Tigard High School this weekend (2/15). Six weeks to go until the OSAA Dance/Drill State Championships!