Lined up on mats that have been placed on the floor of Philomath High’s auditorium, the school’s nine cheerleaders go through the motions of a routine that might be seen on the sidelines of a football game.
The Friday afternoon practice carried extra importance at the time with the state championships only a week away. The team’s three captains have seen steady improvement over the course of the season.
“I’m really proud of them,” junior captain Erynn Kohler said. “I think working together as a whole, we’ve just grown better. I think our confidence definitely has increased a lot and our showmanship is really good.”
Senior captain Josey Schreiber sees a squad making great strides after losing five seniors from last year’s contingent.
“We started basically from ground zero after losing like our whole team last year,” Schreiber said. “We have built a whole new thing.”
Olivia Daggett, junior captain, can also see it all coming together.
“Our team-building skills got a lot better,” Daggett said. “Our communication skills are getting sharper and faster.”
The Oregon School Activities Association’s state championships are now just a couple of days away, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Oregon City High School. Philomath will be among the first group of schools to take the floor in the Game Day category on Friday with its performance scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
Along with Daggett, Kohler and Schreiber, the rest of the PHS cheer squad includes juniors Annaleise Brown and Ciara Seits, sophomore Peyton Garrett and freshmen Jordyn Allen, Brenna Schreiber and Sadie Schreiber.
Kathy Kohler will reach 10 years as the program’s head coach this coming November. Kenzie Leslie serves as an assistant coach.
The three team captains have embraced their team titles.
“It means leading my team through things that can be hard for us — like competitions,” Schreiber said when asked what serving as a captain means to her. “And just getting closer with everyone as a team and not just in little groups.”
Erynn Kohler sees the role of captain as a position of trust among teammates. Daggett enjoys the task of improving performances.
“I like giving corrections — not in a mean way but it’s nice that I can have that responsibility,” Daggett said.
Just as the name of the category indicates, the Game Day routines involve the type of performances typically seen on the sidelines at a football game.
“We’re cheering for the home team, trying to get the ball down the field or make a good stop, so it’s definitely high in energy and using lots of props and signs,” Erynn Kohler said.
Schreiber said routines performed in front of the judges are more intense than what might be seen at an actual game.
“It’s the stuff you typically see but like times 10,” she said. “It’s much more intense and in your face, kind of like a sprint.”
The level of energy and facial expressions are two important factors.
“It involves a lot of spiriting and smiling,” Daggett said. “You have to get the crowd super involved and be super loud and really energetic.”
The team has been trying to work through its weak spots in the routine. Daggett said the team wants to develop more consistency and work on things that had been pointed out to them by judges. Erynn Kohler added that the judging is subjective so it can be a challenge to know how they will be perceived.
Coach Kohler anticipates a close battle among the 4A schools.
“I haven’t done this one before and there are six teams in the category that are scoring right about the same,” she said. “So it’s going to come down to every little detail and we don’t know what to expect. I feel like a lot of times going into state, we kind of have an idea.”
The cheer program has been a consistent presence at the state championships in recent years. Although such experience can be valuable, Philomath had that senior-heavy roster in 2024-25.
“They persevere really well,” Coach Kohler said. “They’ve overcome a lot of changes, a lot of adaptations. We didn’t come into the season knowing what it was really going to look like and they’ve adjusted well to whatever we’ve asked them to do.”
At state last year, the Warriors competed in a different category, placing fourth out of eight teams in Traditional. Erynn Kohler was among those who were on the mat last year and a takeaway that she had related to timing.
“We didn’t hit any of our leads … those are the stunts that lead up to your pyramid, any of the small things that you do before your big stunt sequence,” she said. “We didn’t hit any of those, which is a lot of points, but with our energy and emotions, we came back and were still able to place. So I definitely took a lot from that.”
Daggett said the team just needs to persevere if things don’t go as planned.
“If something happens, just keep going strong and don’t feed into it while you’re on the mat,” she said. “Just keep going strong and debrief about it later … just keep the energy up while you’re out there.”
Whatever happens in Oregon City, the coach hopes the team simply has fun with the experience.
“Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about for me — that they have a good time and that it isn’t about just work all the time,” Coach Kohler said.
Schreiber’s four years in the sport have exposed her to different dynamics within each squad. This year’s team is very close, she said.
“We’ve all known each other outside of the program and we are all friendly with each other and able to talk to each other — the communication is really good,” she said. “We’re a very positive workspace … once we get there, it’s happy and positive and everyone’s there for each other.”
A recent spell of illness swept through the roster to the point of practice getting canceled and only a handful of girls at basketball games.
“I was out all week so that was really hard, especially since we have our last competition before state this weekend but I’l still be able to make it thankfully,” Erynn Kohler said this past Friday before the team went to the Last Cheer Competition at Tualatin. “There were only four girls at practice on Wednesday, which is really hard because of the team aspect of it. You need to have everybody here to get the feel for everything.”
Schreiber, who is the eldest of three sisters on the roster, enjoys the community aspect of cheerleading.
“It’s not like you see in the movies where they’re fighting and just arguing the whole time,” she said. “Everyone supports each other. It’s very positive.”
Philomath’s participation at state will be limited to Friday. For those planning to go, beginning at 8:50 p.m., there will be an Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association scholarships presentation followed by an all-state exhibition and the awards presentation. State’s second day features schools competing in the Traditional category.
