All rumble, no stumble for TD cheer team

They were ready.

The Riverhawks scored a 54 out of 60 on overall routine, added a 64.4 out of 80 in tumbling and jumps, and had a 59.3 out of 80 in building skills for a combined score of 177.7 with no deductions to pick up first-place honors at the Scotsmen Rumble Saturday at David Douglas High School.

“I honestly was shocked how relaxed they all looked before they went on,” Sugg said. “They took the mat and the look on their faces was something I had never seen before. I usually always expect to get at least one bad run out of the way. Not this time. They literally hit and fought for every stunt harder than I have ever seen them fight. Their faces lit up and they just shined.”

Of the three categories, overall routine consisted of formations, routine creativity, motions, voice, cheer, dance, and overall impression, and The Dalles hit for 90 percent.

In tumbling and jumps, the team had to perform standing tumbling difficulty, standing tumbling execution, running tumbling difficulty, running tumbling execution, jump difficulty, jump execution, and synchronization.

Building skills, one of the more challenging events, involved stunt difficulty, stunt execution, pyramid difficulty, pyramid execution, toss difficulty, toss execution, and building skills creativity, which they tallied a 59.3 out of 80 on the scorecards.

“Winning first was a big relief. Hitting everything and getting through a strong, clean routine was our No. 1 goal for last weekend and we achieved our goal,” said Jessika Nanez. “I was so proud of our team, especially since more than half are new to competing. Having this strong start was a good confidence boost and was proof that taking it all isn’t impossible for us.”

Meara Crawford and Kegan Rice were very happy with the stunting performances.

Ella Morgan was particularly impressed with the sharpness and faces, adding that the team was loud in their cheer and showed a lot of energy on the mat.

Nañez said the clean routine was a big factor in The Dalles’ win.

Abbey Helseth liked the high level of execution and the fact that the team hit everything perfectly.

“This competition really gave us a reassurance that we are capable of performing an amazing, flawless routine,” Helseth said.

With such a young team, Rice admitted that she was unsure just how well this cheer team would fare in their first event of the season.

Over the past two weeks, however, the team clicked and became more unified, with a collaborative goal of wanting to do well.

With success comes expectations, and Crawford said the gameplan is to treat every practice like a competition, to practice like they have never won and perform like they have never won.

“I believe that even though we won our first competition, we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Rice said. “Yes, we did great this time, but cheer is all about consistency and that’s what our team needs the most work on. At our practices, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we can’t get too cocky or comfortable. We still have a lot to work to do and perfect.”

The competition gets tougher this weekend, as The Dalles has a performance Saturday at Clackamas, and then turns around for another event at Lakeridge on Sunday.

Morgan, Helseth, Crawford, Nañez, Giselle Schwartz, Samantha Stanley, Hannah Wallis, and Kendyl Kumm want this next challenge.

Bryonna Otzoy, Sydney Fransen, Mackenzie Smith, Shivani Patel, Jenifer Salinas, Hannah Caracciolo and Rice are ready to give it all they have for coach Sugg and assistants Andrea Peña and Alli Miles.

“I’m so excited to compete this next weekend and see how we have progressed from the last,” Helseth said. “I’ve never been more proud of my team than last weekend, including Lauryn Despain for coming and supporting us.”