Mollahiettes reign on

MOSES LAKE — It is one of the ironies of state competition that the biggest meet of the year is also the last performance for the team - the last one ever. Molahiettes team co-captain Payten Chlarson said that fact struck home as the team waited to perform at the WIAA Dance/Drill State Championship last month.

“When we’re on deck, that’s when you realize that’s your last time doing that routine,” Chlarson said. “The last time you’re ever going to be on the floor with that team and that group of girls, (and) especially for the seniors, the last time you’re ever going to be on the floor. So it was like a bittersweet thing. But it’s nice knowing that you worked so hard to get to that point where you can go out on the floor. So it’s a good feeling.”

The Molahiettes have been working since late last summer, and they made that last performance count. The team brought home state titles for their military and pom routines, and a third place for their kick routine. They were the defending state champions in military and pom, said head coach Jaylynn Hernandez.

The Molahiettes have a long history of state championships, and Hernandez said it starts with hard work and a team commitment.

“It’s funny - every year I (think), ‘How are we going to do it this year? How are we going to do it again? I think myself and the other coaches really take a look around (at) the talent we have and we (say), “Okay, as long as everybody is willing to put in the work and fight to the end, we’re going to make it happen somehow.’

“Based on that, all the girls on the same page, wanting the same thing, which is to defend those titles. Do the best we can,” she added.

Each routine demands something different, and for each routine the teams have three minutes maximum on the floor.

“I would say military is more of a sharper routine, and it’s really serious,” Chlarson said. “It’s just full of super-sharp arms and stuff, and (it’s) serious. That’s where we do all of our crazy tricks and stuff. So it’s a fun one. I like that one.”

Team co-captain Paige Sanchez said the pom routine requires a different mindset, and emphasizes other skills.

“That is a very upbeat type of dancing,” Sanchez said. “You’re obviously using poms, (which) are smaller than cheerleader size, I would say. But it’s just a very happy dance - you’re doing it to entertain, to try to get the crowd excited, too. That’s more, I would say, our dancing. That’s our closest to dance.”

The kick competition comes with a requirement that a minimum of 50% of the routine is - well, kicking. And that, said co-captain JaeLynn Ramirez, requires endurance.

“It’s not a super-stressful dance, but it does demand a lot physically,” Ramirez said. “You just have to have a lot of stamina to get through that routine.”

“Because by the end your legs are like jello,” Chlarson said.

The captains said the state routine was the culmination of the season’s work.

“That was the best time we ever did kick,” Sanchez said.

Hernandez said choreographing state-winning routines starts with evaluating the skills each girl brings, then making the routines challenging. A state-winning routine also emphasizes teamwork.

“Let’s say we have 20 girls on a number, if there’s only one girl doing an impressive skill, it’s not that (eye-catching). If all 20 girls are doing something crazy, that’s when you’re going to get some magic,” she said.

The judges also reward teams that execute well.

“If I give them something really, really hard to do, we don’t get points for trying. We get points for doing it correctly and making it look good,” Hernandez said.

And it all has to fit into three minutes or less; Hernandez said the Molahiettes’ longest routine was kick, at 2:47.

“Military was probably 2:30, which is typical,” Sanchez said. “A lot can happen in two minutes and 30 seconds.”

Each team only gets one chance in each routine, but the captains said the work they’ve put in boosted their confidence.

“In practice (Hernandez) always tells us to give it your all, pretend like you’re doing on the state floor kind of thing,” Sanchez said. “Once we’re out there, we know muscle memory will take over and we have the energy.”

“This is the last time you’re ever going to do it,” Ramirez said. “What do you want to leave out on the floor, to remember?”

The last time on the floor brought emotion with it, the captains said.

“I definitely bawled my eyes out,” Sanchez said.

“A couple of times throughout the day,” Ramirez said.

“I remember that when we finished military - our last number of the day, our last number ever as a Molahiette - I was counting our team off the floor, and my voice was cracking.

The current seniors missed out on two state competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they appreciated the state experience.

“It’s a different feeling - nothing you can really put words to. I say, there’s a feeling of state. I can’t explain it,” Chlarson said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabiabasinherald.com.