The Dalles cheerleaders pick up second place at state

The Dalles was second in two categories, and tied for first in overall routine with one deduction and totaled 161.50 points to lock in a second-place outcome, 5.2 points behind Westview (166.70), at the OSAA OnPoint Community Credit Union small coed cheer championships Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

“There was a lot of emotion from me and the kids,” Td head coach Kelsey Sugg-Wallace said. “I think it was just the emotions of feeling like they gave their best, and sometimes it’s a hard lesson to learn when your best isn’t good enough. But, I had to tell them all to keep their heads up and be proud of what they put on that mat today because they did everything I asked them to do and more.”

Historically speaking, The Dalles dance, and now cheer, has been one of the more successful programs, with 12 state championships.

Over the past five seasons in two different divisions, under Sugg-Wallace, the Riverhawks have four seconds and a sixth to their credit, which shows that there is a consistent level to attain and an expectation to meet or exceed every time they perform.

“I am really proud of our team,” senior captain Giselle Schwartz said. “We literally left everything we could on the mat. There is not one thing in our routine that we could have done better, so no matter the outcome, we are proud of ourselves because we all know that we did the very best possible. This entire season, we never performed better than we did today, so it definitely wasn’t a wasted season.”

Teams were judged on building skills, tumbling and jumps and overall routine to get their point totals.

Westview put up 59.50 points in building skills, had a 57.20 in tumbling and jumps, and scored 52 in overall routine.

The Dalles tallied 56.30 in building skills, 57.20 in tumbling and jumps and finished tied for first in overall routine with 52 points, so it came down to small details.

“We had a clean routine and it hit,” Sugg-Wallace said. “We upped our tumbling difficulty, which was the highest it had been all year. We tied with Westview in our overall score and the only thing that we were missing was our stunt difficulty.”

Crescent Valley (152.90), Beaverton (140.40), Redmond (136.50), Summit (135.00), Roseburg (124.60), Milwaukie (123.80), Hood River Valley (121.50) and North Bend (120.90) were the next eight in the team standings.

Of the top-10 finishers, six were from the 5A classification, and Westview, Beaverton, Summit and Roseburg are all 6A programs.

“It doesn’t seem like we are getting better because we keep getting second place, but we have moved from 5A to small coed, which now means that we compete against more than double the teams,” Schwartz said. “Compared to the best 5A teams, we are still outscoring them, so that just shows how much we have grown. From now and in the future, this program is only going to get better.”

The Dalles had a mix of youth and experience on the roster, led by seniors Alexa Baldy, Schwartz, Sophia Pullen, Stephanie Flores and Karla Hernandez.

Schwartz and Hernandez were voted as team captains and there were a lot of leadership responsibilities placed on their shoulders, as they worked diligently in bringing together Amy Hernandez, Leslie Morales, Ellie Cardosi, Caleb Parsons, Gabbe Haskins, Emily Adams, Ari Acevedo, Mikiyle Brantner, Meli Avila, Giselle Ortega, and Brooke Abrams.

“When I was voted captain by my teammates, I was surprised because early on in the season, nobody really knew me,” Hernandez said. “I mean, the returners did, but there were so many freshmen and they still stuck by me, so it showed that my leadership skills were showing on other people. It’s a really good feeling to be one of the leaders on the team, and when you see them get to a higher level, it is rewarding for all of us.”

In three competitions, the Riverhawks averaged 158.2 points per event and claimed two seconds and a first, but they had a 5.2-point average increase in those three routines and wrapped up the year with a season-high 161.50 points Saturday in Portland.

“It was basically all of us working together,” Flores said. “There’s been times where we have really bad practices, but I try my best to keep it to myself and try to lift others up by saying, ‘ok, we’ve got this and we know we can hit this and it was just a bad night, let’s just keep doing what we have always been doing. We can hit this.’ It is just working together. As long as we believe in ourselves that we can hit these stunts and work together as a team, we can get really far.”

Sugg-Wallace wants her team to treat cheer like a job, so being on time, being ready and staying focused are the important elements expected to follow.

More than half the people on this team have part-time jobs, take honors or have AP classes, so a lot to put into the sport and their daily lives, so reward is in knowing the tough times build up to the good times.

“Honestly, the biggest part of this is time management,” Hernandez said. “Every single thing in your life takes a little bit of time and dedication. I just feel like cheer itself has been a really big stress relief for me. If I am really frustrated one day, I will go to practice and do whatever I can to make myself feel better. That’s what this program has done for me. It has really been my safe space and my happy spot, where I can just be free.”

Now that her high school cheer career is over, Schwartz said that she wants her teammates to have faith in knowing that the hours of practice they put into their craft will pay off one day.

“It is bittersweet because this is my fourth and final year as a varsity member, and so it’s sad, but I am really proud of myself for sticking with this for four years,” Schwartz said. “We put a lot into this and there is an infinite amount of pressure put on us, so getting so much out of it and the amount of first places we’ve won at competitions in general and how high we are scoring, I am so proud of myself and the team and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”