McDaniel High ‘Stomp N Shake’ team pushes for cheerleading dance genre at state

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - The Stomp N Shake team at McDaniel High School in northeast Portland is looking to add a dance genre to the state of Oregon so they can have a chance to compete and win a state championship, just like any other school team.

The Lions are not your average cheer team. They don’t do flips, tumbling and they don’t use mats, it’s all about sound. They have stomped their way to football games, basketball games and assemblies - it’s a genre that’s popular in the south but now they want to bring the rhythm statewide. But Oregon doesn’t offer the stomp category, and until they do, the Lions would have to travel out of state to compete.

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Kaylee, team captain, says she likes how the cheer group is different.

“I like how the moves are created, how we put pieces together,” Kaylee says. “We work so hard and do all of this work and not be able to show it off.”

Head Coach Sharlivia Slaughter says she’s been reluctant to enter cheer competitions because they don’t fit the qualifications to win. For example, they had to modify their routine at the Gladiator Challenge hosted by Gladstone High.

“We had to alter words in our cheers and alter stances,” Slaughter says. “It’s frustrating we had to roll with it because we wanted to do it and we wanted points so we had to alter who we were.”

But the Lions have left quite an impression - even being invited to perform at other schools.

“It felt good that they wanted to come see us. We were showing them our style,” says Kaylee.

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Slaughter says at least four other schools in Oregon also practice stomp and hopes they can ban together to be recognized for their hard work and create something special for future students.

“[We can] let all the people that are a part of OSAA, who are at this competition know, like, we’re here, this is what we want to do,” Slaughter says. “They have a chance to do something really cool and actually be rewarded for it.”

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