Lakeridge High School’s cheerleading team secured the top spot in the 6A Game Day division at the Laker Rumble competition held earlier this month, as teams across Oregon intensified their preparations for the upcoming OSAA Cheerleading Championship scheduled for February 13-14.
The competitive season began in earnest with the Tigard Takeover on January 3. In junior varsity divisions, Tualatin took first place over Barlow in JV Traditional, while Aloha competed unopposed in JV Game Day. Cascade and Canby each competed solo to win their respective varsity game day divisions in 4A and 5A. In the 6A Game Day division, Aloha claimed victory ahead of Barlow and Gresham.
In varsity traditional events at Tigard, Stayton edged out Cascade and Estacada in a closely contested 4A division. Tualatin won both the 6A and unopposed 5A/6A Coed categories.
Subsequent competitions saw schools spread across multiple venues. At Lake Oswego High School’s Laker Rumble, David Douglas topped Ridgeview in JV Game Day, while Tualatin led Westview and Barlow in JV Traditional. Westside Christian won the 1A-4A Game Day category; Central narrowly beat Wilsonville and Ridgeview by three points for first place in 5A Game Day. The Pacers from Lakeridge prevailed by a margin of just 2.5 points over Forest Grove and Newberg in a close 6A Game Day contest.
Other notable results included The Dalles competing alone to win the 1A-4A Coed traditional title; Ridgeview taking first among five teams in the 5A traditional division; Mountain View finishing second by only half a point ahead of Milwaukie; Newberg leading Tualatin and Westview in the tightly contested 6A Small group; Lakeridge outscoring Sherwood for first place in 6A Large; and Tualatin winning an uncontested coed division.
Meanwhile at Thurston High School’s Colt Cheer Challenge, Mountainside took first place in JV Game Day followed by Crater and Caldera. Roseburg triumphed over Mountainside for JV Traditional honors. Rogue River won the small school (1A-3A) Game Day event with Scio second and Creswell third, while Phoenix bested Mazama and Philomath to take top honors among mid-sized schools (4A). Redmond led Rex Putnam among smaller squads (5A Small), South Albany was victorious over Churchill (Medium), Crater topped Centennial (Large), Grants Pass took overall honors among large schools (6A), Pleasant Hill led Brookings Harbor (1A-3A Traditional), Sweet Home was unopposed (4A Traditional), Crater came out on top among five teams competing for the 5A Traditional title, Southridge finished ahead of Roseburg (Small) while Mountainside was unopposed (Large) within traditional divisions for big schools (6A). Redmond led Marshfield and North Salem in coed competition.
Three more competitions—the Sweet Home Cheer Classic, Lion Cheer Challenge, and Gladiator Cheer Challenge—took place during the weekend of January 17th. At Sweet Home, Lebanon earned first place among junior varsity teams with West Albany second and Roseburg third. Scio claimed victory by a margin of more than thirteen points over Creswell among small schools’ varsity game day entries; North Marion topped Mazama to win mid-size school honors; West Albany edged Thurston by one point for best performance among medium-sized programs; Crater excelled again with a high score of 84.5 to lead large programs ahead of South Albany and Woodburn.
Roseburg narrowly defeated Newberg by one point to secure victory among big-school competitors while Willamette rounded out that podium spot. Santiam Christian led Elmira and Pleasant Hill within lower-classification traditional routines; Lebanon scored highest overall with South Albany just ahead of Crater—a difference of only four-tenths—in what is expected to be a highly competitive state championship field.
At Lion Cheer Challenge hosted elsewhere that weekend, Mountainside led junior varsity game day performances followed by David Douglas then Ridgeview; Tualatin eked out a narrow win against Mountainside—with only three-tenths separating them—in JV Traditional as Westview finished third behind them.
Baker emerged victorious over Portland Christian within small school game day routines while Wilsonville defeated Ridgeview amongst mid-size competitors. Lakeridge won another close contest against Mountainside within large-school ranks as Franklin finished third behind those two leaders.
Glide competed alone to take lower-classification traditional honors while Newport did so at mid-levels during this event series too: Ridgeview bested Milwaukie then Crook County at intermediate levels before Westview barely beat Tualatin—Barlow trailing—in upper-tier small group competition where four out five future state finalists were present: Lakeridge again proved strongest followed by Mountainside then Grant.
The Dalles defeated Astoria within smaller coed contests whereas Tualatin overcame Oregon City then McMinnville amongst larger groups participating together here as well.
Gladstone High School’s Gladiator Cheer Challenge concluded this sequence: Tualatin bested Barlow at junior levels while Ridgeview competed alone atop its bracket there too; Sheridan joined several others who also went unchallenged including Tualatin, Ridgeview again—and notably—Lakeridge once more topping their fields without direct opposition elsewhere during these rounds.
Varsity game day contests saw Philomath lead Baker then Pendleton within smaller brackets as South Salem edged Aloha then Barlow within medium ones before Lakeridge repeated success versus Newberg then Clackamas atop largest grouping yet again that month.
Traditional victories went respectively to Glide over Yamhill-Carlton at smallest scale through SweetHome beating Cottage Grove next up—and finally Aloha securing top marks above Newberg plus Tualatin rounding things off at largest level here too.
With these results setting up final preparations throughout January across many classifications statewide—all eyes now turn toward the OSAA State Cheerleading Championship slated for mid-February when champions will be crowned after weeks of rigorous local competition.
