Two-and-a-half minutes.
For most people, that equates to about 200 heartbeats. In the time it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn or find your car keys, the Oregon cheer team, along with seven other finalists from across the country, had one shot to make its 2004-05 season either a startling success or a mediocre mishap. This short period of time was the only chance to validate practices at 7 a.m., aching backs and rebuilt knees.
“It’s only two-and-a-half minutes to prove your entire season,” Dan Cotton, a veteran member of the Oregon squad, said. “It’s not like football where you get extra plays.”
The Ducks pulled it off. Cotton and 24 other members of Oregon’s cheerleading team made quality use of their limited stage time and took home first place at the United Spirit Association Collegiate Nationals in Large Co-Ed Show Cheer Division on Feb. 6 and 7 at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas.
Amidst the glitz and glam of Sin City, the Duck cheer squad accomplished a goal that was set after last year’s non-placing finish at the same event.
“We thought that this isn’t so tough,” said 11th-year head coach Laraine Raish, describing the Oregon attitude after a third-place finish in 2003. The Ducks came face to face with reality when they failed to make the second day finals the following year. After the disappointing showing, the Oregon squad vowed to return to Vegas with a vengeance.
“First place is won at practice, you just go to the competition to pick (the trophy) up,” Cotton said of Oregon’s attitude that was adopted in pursuit of excellence.
Cotton, Eric Arola, Brittany Willis, Ryan Long, Jamie Fryback and Richie Houdek threw conventional wisdom aside and began developing a routine on their own, forgoing the usual route of hiring a professional choreographer.
“We were able to focus on what we were good at,” senior squad member Haley Harris said.
The team concentrated on football and basketball routines for most of the fall but were finally able to work on the national contest’s performance starting in January.
“We tried to make our routine a little flashier, a little more creative,” Cotton said. “It had a really interesting flair to it.”
The Ducks began practicing their contest routine at 7 a.m. workouts that left many members “black and blue.”
Oregon cheerleaders fought through sprained ankles, black eyes and the occasional concussion. Kelsi Metzler competed following anterior cruciate ligament surgery and Richard Cunningham battled on with a torn meniscus.
“When we’re bleeding, I don’t want to cover it up. I want to walk up to the (Casanova) Center and be like, ‘Look, I get jacked up too. I don’t wear pads,’” Cotton said half-jokingly.
During these early-morning
sessions, the Ducks became a
well- oiled machine. Besides honing
aerial techniques and perfecting tumbling moves, the Ducks cemented a trust that became unbreakable.
“We wouldn’t do any of the things we do now if we didn’t have full confidence in the people around us,” Fryback said. “That carries over into the routine … I can look around and know they’re going do their absolute best.”
Cotton, who said he took cortisone shots to compete in the main event, competed through his pain because of those bonds.
“If it weren’t for these people, I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Beau Eastes is a freelance reportor for the Daily Emerald
