Dance Team Wins Ninth State Title
With its most recent state title, now its ninth across Hip Hop, Dance, or Show since 2019, Hermiston’s dominant dancing dynasty continues
The Hermiston High School Dance Team captured the 3A State Hip Hop Championship at the WIAA State Dance and Drill Championships March 28, 2026 at the Yakima SunDome. The Bulldogs edged out Kentlake High School of Kent, Washington, by a single point — 252.90 to 251.90 — with their “Welcome to the Jungle” routine to claim the title.
Head Coach Alex Anteau noted that the team’s season had its share of score swings, but believes those challenges forged the focus and determination the squad brought to Yakima. The team approached the championship with a businesslike mindset, treating the event as a job to be done rather than simply a performance opportunity, and delivered when it mattered most.
Beyond the Hip Hop crown, Hermiston also placed second in Dance and finished fourth in Pom — a discipline the team was competing in for the first time this season. Pom, which replaced Show in competition this year, emphasizes quick and precise synchronized arm movements, formations, jumps, and skills performed while holding poms throughout the routine. Mastering an entirely new style mid-program was no small task, but the Bulldogs placed in every Pom competition they entered on the way to state.
The championship is Hermiston’s ninth state title across Hip Hop, Dance, and Show since 2019, cementing the program’s status as one of the region’s premier dance dynasties. For Anteau, now in her second season leading the Bulldogs, inheriting a program with such a strong legacy carries real weight — but watching her team grow into it has made the journey worthwhile.
— Northeast Oregon Now, April 1, 2026
