New divisions arrive, repeat champions crowned

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The state of cheerleading never seemed better in Oregon than Saturday at Oregon City High School.

Sparked by a new division, nearly 30 more school participated in the annual OSAA/U.S. Bank state championships, with winners being named in eight divisions.

The big names in the state performed as they have in the past as all the winners from the five divisions last year repeated as champion. But, the creation of a Game Day Division, in which teams are not required to perform as many stunts as the traditional divisions, brought the total number of competitive teams to an all-time record 85.

The addition of a new division ramped up participation, but also more schools returned to competition being another year farther away from the Covid-19 outbreak.

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In addition to two Game Day divisions, the Class 6A Division split into Large and  Small performance groups, something it has done in the past.

While all five winners from last year won again, two schools won for the first time: Scio in the Game Day 4A/3A/2A/1A Division. Central tied Thurston for first in the 6A/5A Division, marking the first time it had won a title.

McMinnville moved up from third and won in the Coed Traditional Division, taking advantage of Westview’s move from having won the two most recent state competitions.

Rainier’s win was the narrowest of margins on the day - 0.20 points over Santiam Christian.

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