PORTLAND – According to the girls from the Pendleton dance team, a second-place finish at the state championship competition from a year ago was not nearly enough to satisfy them.

With a bolstered, fresh routine, Rhythmic Mode went to work this year making waves by finishing in first place at multiple competitions leading up to the state championship.

Despite some setbacks from injuries, Pendleton preserved and finished first in the 5A big team division. Also making their first showing in that division was the Hermiston Stardust, which finished ninth despite giving what the team felt was their best performance of the year.

“I think we went out with a bang, definitely,” senior April Weathers said. “We started out a little shaky Friday, but we were able to turn some of our negatives into positives.”

She added that losing some of her teammates to injury, even as recently as Friday, is a discouraging thing as it feels like the team “loses pieces to the puzzle.”

“This competition has put them to the test,” said Pendleton coach Debbie Kishpaugh, who was named coach of the year for her team’s efforts this season. “One of our girls is down here in a wheel chair and that happened last night. And we’ve had some injuries before this as well, so the girls are really being pushed, but they’re rising to the occasion of being champs.”

As Kishpaugh projected to her team after finishing their routine Saturday, it would come down to them, South Albany and West Albany as to who would finish as state champions.

With six other teams in the division, Rhythmic Mode set themselves apart with some “outside the box thinking,” according to Kishpaugh.

“We’re really focused,” said senior Jessica Heliker, who was named to the all-state dance team – just the second girl in Pendleton history to do so. “We focus on getting ourselves really pumped up and ready to go and try not to worry about what the other teams are doing … . We were really original this year. You won’t see anyone else with our kind of theme or entertainment value. I really think we have that over (our competition).”

While Pendleton had expected to be at the top of the pile by competition’s end, the Hermiston Stardust were looking to give whatever they could on the big stage.

After competing at the small team division last year, the Stardust made the jump up and part of the territory was learning to compete against much bigger competition.

“We’ve had a lot of challenges this year, as we’re still trying to rebuild our team,” senior Kayla Mullay said. “But getting here was really rewarding. We just wanted to do the best we could, but this is what we’ve been working toward all season.”

According to her and coach Rachel Martin, this stage was a perfect opportunity to showcase the team’s ability on the floor. And they didn’t disappoint, as Mullay was confident Saturday was Hermiston’s best performance all year.

“We did really well and I couldn’t expect any more of them,” Martin said. “They love (the pressure), they just eat it up. They like to perform in front of as big an audience as possible, and being here … was just fuel to that fire.”