OTHELLO — Othello Dance and Drill team leader Bridget Maldonado said she wasn’t ready for the announcement when it came.

The Huskies had already received the trophy for their second-place finish in the pom category at the state championships, held in the Yakima SunDome March 26. They also performed in the hip-hop category, but the team didn’t have a lot of expectations for that routine, Bridget Maldonado said.

“All along we thought we were going to win first (for) our pom,” Bridget Maldonado said. “So when they said, ‘second place (in hip-hop), Tumwater,’ we were like, ‘oh, Selah beat them.’”

But Selah wasn’t the winner. On the biggest stage of the season the Huskies had nailed it. The state championship in the hip-hop category went to Othello.

“When they said Othello, we just looked at each other, and we ran (to the award stand),” Bridget Maldonado said. “Because we were taking pictures of our second place trophy when they said Othello.”

Head coach Anna Martinez said she wasn’t too sure about that hip-hop routine going into state. The coaches had worked out a dance to fit the music, built around tough girls in jail. The dance and drill team didn’t have experience with jail.

“They were embarrassed. They didn’t even know how to do it,” Martinez said. “But they worked at it. And I think, when the time came, they pulled it off. At practices they were not doing that. But in reality at state, which is where we wanted it, they forgot about being embarrassed.“

She added that she thought the young ladies she coaches got into the moment and with the support of family and friends - and the confidence that comes from making it to state-level competition, they turned it around.

“And they were very amazing. I don’t know how else to say it, they were great,” she said.

Assistant coach Antonio Estrada said he didn’t have any doubts after watching the performance.

“In my heart I knew it was us,” he said.

Estrada was in charge of the music, and wasn’t with Martinez during the performance. But it affected both coaches the same way, he said.

“When we made eye contact as coaches, and we were both crying, we were like, ‘Hey, we felt it.’ When they said ‘Second, Tumwater,’ I knew. I just knew,” he said.

Dance and drill team member Amarie Guzman said a championship performance starts at practice.

“You have to visualize yourself, visualize you’re at state or something, and there’s a lot of people watching you, because that’s what brings the pressure onto you,” Guzman said. “That’s what causes timing issues, and stuff like that. So a big part is practicing. Practice like you want to perform.”

“We were practicing for months and months and our bodies automatically know what to do, our faces - they know what to do. And we just blink out,” Bridget said. “We gave it our all.”

Team member Sara Maldonado said she learned from her teammates.

“I would look at other dancers to see what they did, and try to add onto that. Like, ‘Oh, how can I make that even more aggressive or more entertaining to watch?’ Really learn from others, and look at yourself in the mirror to see how you can make your body do that,” Sara Maldonado said.

The COVID-19 pandemic closed schools and canceled the district and state championships in 2020. There was a kind of state competition in 2021, where teams filmed and submitted their routines.

“There was still a first place, a second (place), but it wasn’t like the tradition of going into the SunDome and watching it,” Martinez said.

So the classes of 2020 and 2021 had graduated, and the team was starting almost from scratch. Only Bridget Maldonado had experience competing at the SunDome.

Sara Maldonado said she didn’t know what to expect, but she trusted in her teammates.

“The night before we went and competed, I felt more confident after having fun with my teammates and getting along and bonding with them. And I feel like if I didn’t have that experience and that chemistry with my team I wouldn’t have gone in as confident as I did, or competed as confidently,” she said.

She added that the few seconds before the team performed, she was scared, but after looking at her teammates and parents who were watching in the crowd, she felt fine.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m fine. I’ve done this before, let’s just do it how we practiced it. I’m not going to waste all that time, just because I’m scared,” Sara Maldonado said.

Guzman said the mutual support among the team members, the way the girls worked together, was an important factor in the team’s success. They hung out together before state and had dinner as a team the night before the competition.

“If you’re not dancing with people you enjoy being around, it’s going to make you not want to be there and not dance as well,” Guzman said. “So if you get along with your team, have good chemistry, you guys bond a lot and that helps a lot. Once you’re dancing, you’re all dancing together. You’re trusting each other.”

Bridget Maldonado said she was impatient for state competition.

“We went on a Friday, and I just wanted it to be Saturday already. I just wanted to see all our parents and family sitting there, supporting us one last time,” she said.

The Huskies also won the academic state championship for 2A dance and drill.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to get a championship (and) be the 2A academic champs. And they also got the superior rating, which is the highest you can get. And they did it all in one year. I’m very proud of these guys,” Martinez said.

Family and community support was crucial, she said. The team got a parade out of town prior to state and were escorted back home along Main Street by the Othello police and fire departments – complete with sirens – when they returned with a state championship.

“In the crowds at the stadium, that was the biggest parent support we had seen thus far,” Estrada said. “I feel like that also made an impact. Everybody was super-important to the overall win for the team.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].