Milers repeat as champions

By Emily Panter
Springfield Beacon

For the third consecutive year, the Springfield Millers cheerleading squad has emerged as state champions. They finished with a score of 77.64, edging out second place finishers and cross-town rivals, Thurston, who finished with 74.79 points.
“Overall it was probably the best performance we’ve done all year,” said Springfield coach Janet Fryback. “The guys and girls did a great job. They performed great and had tons of energy and excitement and just did a great job.”
It’s certainly not easy being defending champions, especially for the third time in a row. For the seniors on the team, it was their third consecutive state championship so they certainly had a lot of pressure to do just as well as their previous two trips.
“It’s tough,” Fryback said. “Especially when you have Thurston on your fanny every year. Almost half are sophomores so they’d never been to sate before. It was a challenge for them but they did a wonderful job.”
But despite their second place finish, Thurston actually had the better performance, initially beating the Millers by about a point. But the Colts received a deduction for throwing a sign too hard to give the Millers the victory.
“To actually have (Springfield) beat and have a subjective call be what really took us out of it is hard,” said Thurston coach James Underwood. “It was a pretty brutal loss but I’m proud of our kids.”
Last year the Millers edged out the Colts by less than one full point, and by about six points the year before. Fryback estimated Springfield has won about 15 championships in the school’s history.
According to Underwood, having your biggest competition in the state just a few miles away has been one of the driving factors for the Colts.
“The message I always preach to my kids is that competition breeds success,” he said. “We get better in life because we have to compete with others. To know that five minutes down the road is our biggest competition (is huge). I think that keeps it at the forefront of their mind the entire year.”
This year’s state meet does not mark the end of competition for the two teams. The Millers will be performing at the Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Championship on Feb. 23 and the Pacwest St. Patty’s Day National’s in March. Both will be held in Portland.
The Colts have earned a bid to nationals in Anaheim this March. Last year they finished in fourth place.
“We’re hoping to do better this year,” Underwood said.