WIAA: Day 2 State Dance & Drill Championships 4A Competition

3/29/2023

(Yakima, WA) The 2023 WIAA State Dance and Drill Championships concluded on Saturday with the 4A competitions. There are six categories with 27 schools competing over the day long event. Below are the results of each category. The number of trophies per event were dependent on the number of teams competing.

Over the 2 days of competition there were a total of 75 teams (27-4A, 32-3A, 13-2A and 3-1A) and 154 team performances. 93 performances on Day 1 and on Day 2 with just the 4A a total of 61 routines, which made for a much shorter day.

Over the 6 categories there were 4 Champions with 2 schools taking home 2 titles each. Among those 2 schools defended not 1 but both State Championships from last year while another 1 defended their title for a total of 5 of 6 defending their titles.

Let’s start with the Dance category and Skyline took the Championship defending their title from 2022. Last year the Spartans tied for 1st with Issaquah and while the Spartans remained at the top, Issaquah also gave a much worthy performance taking 3rd out of the 4 trophy places. Kentridge stepped up from 4th last year to finish 2nd and Redmond took 4th which was the Mustangs first trophy since their 4th place finish in Pom back in 2019.

Kentridge was the only new Champion this year replacing Mount Si in the Kick category and outkicking everyone to win their 1st title since taking 2 Big Trophies in 2019 where they had won the kick and show categories. This event grew from last year as they gave out 3 trophies to only 2 last season. Mount Si had another strong performance and just missed defending their title which would have been a clean sweep 6 for 6 repeat title winners but the Wildcats had to settle for 2nd. Moses Lake was 2nd last year and finished 3rd and was their 3rd trophy of the competition.

Speaking of Moses Lake, the Mavericks took home 2 State Titles defending their Military category with Newport finishing 2nd. It was the exact same finish as it was last year. The Mavericks then competed in the Pom category and once again came away with the win. There were 5 trophies and all 5 teams that placed last year were all back in the top 5 this year but a different order other than Moses Lake. Last year Pasco was 2nd, Eastlake 3rd, 4th went to South Kitsap and Skyline was 5th. This year Eastlake moved up to 2nd, Skyline jumped from 5th to 3rd, South Kitsap maintained 4th and Pasco slipped from 2nd to 5th place.

Finally in the Show category the 3 participants were Richland, Kentridge and Pasco and only 1 trophy was awarded the Championship trophy.

Richland began it with a large and colorful set with the “Trolls” as the theme. The cartoon fantasy came to life in this fun and energetic performance from the Richland Bombers. The characters were in colorful and fanciful costumes the routine was fast paced and offered several different dance and gymnastic movements to a feature of a hover board. The performance was well received by the crowd and quickly raised the energy level in the SunDome.

Kentridge won this competition in 2019 and were back to make a serious run trying to knock off defending Champions Pasco. The Chargers theme was a “Hawaiian Vacation”. It began with the flight including the passengers and flight attendants. It began with the familiar “ding-dong” of the fasten your seatbelts tone with the flight attendant welcome over the loudspeaker into some upbeat music and dance for the in-flight portion. The passengers landed and the routine took them from the cab to the check-in at the hotel to surfing in the Pacific to the sounds of the Beach Boys and finished with a beach party.

Again, another fun and upbeat routine with large sets and lots of color. Both Richland and Kentridge had their site on the defending champs Pasco but the Bulldogs came with a very simple concept, simplistic sets although big in size but a theme everyone familiar with high school sports totally understood from the beginning.

Pasco came out with a “school spirit” routine with the set being a halftime show of a football game. “Spike” is the Bulldogs mascot and the 1st big piece was an extended large Doghouse with a stuffed “Spike” on top. There were an additional 6 pieces that were simplistic fans in the stands. The Bulldogs came out as cheerleaders and Drill and Dance team members with of course “Spike” being the focus. Despite the simplistic sets Pasco also brought on a living set the Pasco pep band drum line was included for a great realistic effect. The routine was high energy and definitely got the crowd into their performance which was easy to understand and easy to get what their story was all about.

In the end, that ease in which captured the large crowd on-hand also impressed the judges who awarded the Bulldogs with their 2nd straight Show Championship. All 3 shows were a huge change from the day before where Hermiston won their 2nd straight show title with a dramatic performance on the Salem Witch Trials. Another performance by Mountain View taking on the recent devastating forest fires with only Highline coming out with an upbeat and fun routine on the “Highline Retirement Home”.

All 6 routines were remarkable, interesting, fun and dramatic. The day wrapped up with the “Drill Down” event which is a giant “Simon Says” competition while the judges put the finishing touches on their final results. This year’s Drill Down Champion was Camille Corless from Tahoma HS. Taking 2nd was Mia Rodriguez of Union HS and taking 3rd was Gabriella Yuen from Mount Rainier HS.

Following the Drill Down event the lights went out and the parade of athletes took center stage and although the crowd not quite as big as Day 1 with only the 4A classification going the enthusiasm and fun exploded in the SunDome with all the flashing lights spotlights celebrating the participants. It then ended with the awarding of the trophies. Another great day at the State Dance and Drill competition.