The Controversy Behind Jenks Pom Takes State, Barely
Photo Creds: Abby Kornele.
By: Finley Wettstein
This past Friday, our Jenks Varsity Pom (JVP) team competed at the OSSAA State Gameday Championship, hosted at Moore High School. OSSAA stands for Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, almost all of Jenks sports are defined as OSSAA sports and compete at OSSAA competitions. Pom was recently added to this state competition under the Gameday division. “Gameday” is a style of Pom dance that you usually see on the sidelines of a football game or a halftime show. This routine is formed of a school's fight song, a sideline dance (something short and entertaining), and a halftime routine (as previously mentioned what would be performed at games and at halftime (usually something fun, full of school spirit). Gameday is dazzled up with tall flags showing a team mascot or school letters, chants, and signs.
Our Varsity Pom team had been practicing day and night preparing for OSSAA state. They walked into Moore high school, with their bedazzled new uniforms and chest-highchest-high, ready to win.
Natalie Conkling (11) preforming at the competition. Photo Creds: Abby Kornele.
The competition is composed of three parts: prelims, semifinals, and finals. As JVP spirited out onto the floor, parents and our JV pom team screamed and yelled for our girls. Cheering down on the floor Jenks Varsity Pom was radiating with excitement and energy. Their signs and flags hit and their routine looked amazing.
The end of prelims came quickly as we all waited anxiously for the results of who made it to finals to be released. But anxious for nothing, JVP made it to finals, going into their second round of competition… in first place.
“We felt really good about what we had just done,” Alyssa Sanders, JVP’s captain, said.
For the second time, JVP ran out onto the floor, with even more energy than the time before. Bouncing up and down, screaming, full of school spirit. And just like their first performance, everything hit.
As they all ran off the floor we could feel it, they were going to win.
“Now time to announce your OSSAA state champions,” the announcer said. All finalists up to third place were announced, Jenks had yet to be called.
“And your State champion runner up is…” time stood still, the announcer said, “JENKS VARSITY and your OSSAA State Champion, for the 3rd time in a row, YUKON VARSITY POM.” Cheers shattered the room. The room, almost filled with Yukon supporters, was ecstatic.
Hoping for 1st, our Varsity team was let down.
“We were proud of our placement, but we were disappointed,” Sanders said.
Going into finals in 1st place, and with little error in their performance, the team was a little confused.
“I needed to understand, I needed clarification,” Kristin Phibbs, Jenks Varsity Pom’s coach said, “but I was heartbroken for the girls”.
On the bus ride home scores were released. JVP quickly found out why they bumped down to second place.
“We had the highest score in band dance, band chant, and fight song, but got a 5-point deduction which caused us to lose by about 2 points,” said Sanders.
This deduction was due to a section of choreography that judges stated was a “cheer stunt”.
“Initially we were really confused,” said Sanders, “we had not gotten a warning, and we had no way of knowing that we would get a deduction.”
So Phibbs approached the board of OSSAA to challenge this wrongful deduction.
Monday morning, an email was in her inbox, and that email contained wonderful news. Later that day Tony Dillingham (Jenks’s athletic director) visited JVP.
“He ended up asking for our runner-up medals back,” said Sanders.
OSSAA decided to classify the deductions as wrongful and remove them from JVP’s overall score.
Jenks Varsity Pom preforming their gameday routine at OSSAA State. Photo Creds: Abby Kornele.
“There was screaming and crying,” Phibbs said, “they were elated, also a little bit shocked.”
We are very proud of our Jenks Varsity Pom team for earning our schools 200th OSSAA title, which made the win “double exciting,” said Phibbs.
