OREM — Clint Colvin spent most of the summer sleeping in his car.
"I worked the night shift and my daughter had to be at (drill team) practice at 5:30 a.m.," he said. "So I would pick her up and sleep while she practiced."
A little less sleep and maybe a sore neck seemed like a small price to pay for the experience his daughter had Friday night as the Royals' drill team capped an amazing turnaround with its first 4A state title at Utah Valley State College.
"This is just the neatest thing for these kids," he said, watching them take photos with the trophy that will now grace the school's hallway. "Dallas (Draper, the coach) did an awesome job of pulling these girls together."
Not easy for a woman who took over a program that was dead the past three years ago. "We were in very last place," she said of her first year on the job. "Last year we didn't place at state, and this year we won. My girls are amazing. It's just so magical."
Roy won the Military competition, took second in Dance and second in Prop. That gave the Royals the overall title, while Granger, a team that wowed the audience with their prop routine, finished in second place in 4A.
Bingham captured its fourth straight title in 5A, winning the Dance competition and placing second in Military and Prop. In the 3A classification, Logan won top honors with a win in Dance and second-place finishes in the other two categories. It was the Grizzlies' first drill title since competing in 4A in 1996.
The 2A teams saw a first-time winner crowned as South Sevier edged drill powerhouses Manti, which finished second, and Millard, in third place. The Rams won the Prop category and finished second in the other two competitions.
In 1A, Duchesne followed the Miners' lead and captured its fourth straight title by dominating the competition and winning all three categories as well as the overall.
Colvin said the Roy team has improved so much since Draper took over three years ago that their success earlier this season almost got the best of them.
"They won one of the first competitions they went to, and she was great about not letting it go to their heads," he said.
The girls couldn't agree more.
"It was a new experience," said Aly Larsen, a senior on the team. "We just let it go to our heads a little."
Her teammates nod in agreement.
"We lost momentum after we won that first competition," said senior Destiny Calvano. So what did their coach say to them that brought them down to Earth and put them in position to win that 4A title?
"She reminded us that we're not in competition with anyone but ourselves," said Kylie Christensen, another senior. So from then on, it was 'Do better' because they could, not because the competition demanded it. Because being a drill instructor in Region 5 is like coaching football in the SEC.
"It is one of the toughest drill team regions in the state," she said. "It's tough competition at our region meets, but also it's hard to break the cycle (of the teams who win over and over), because those teams have had so many titles."
Draper said earning the title was the culmination of three years of work for her, the student-athletes and their families. She said the honor is being shared by the entire school and community, although not all of them realized what they had in their midst until this last weekend.
"It is really neat for our school," said Draper, who is eight months pregnant and had to be checked by medical personnel at UVSC because of the stress of the competition. "I don't think everyone realized the potential we had. Now these girls are getting the recognition they deserve.
While nearly all the girls on Roy's drill team are lifelong dancers, Draper said blending all of their different styles and personalities was very difficult. Like all of the girls who entertained thousands at the UVSC's McKay Events Center this weekend, they spent countless hours working on routines and raising money to pay for costumes.
Those who coach and participate in drill team believe that those who still doubt drill team is a sport just don't understand all of the workouts, conditioning and mental toughness that go into each competition.
"It's very competitive," Draper said. "But it is different from other sports in that with other sports, you can have a couple of stars and they can carry the team. But with drill, if one girl isn't on or isn't pulling her weight, she'll bring the whole team down."
One of Friday's most exciting performances in 4A was Granger's Prop routine. They used helium-filled balloons that were weighted with coins as their prop. They looked like exercise balls until the girls let go of them and the audience let out an audible gasp. Granger coach Adeena Lago said she got the idea a few years ago while watching a balloon her daughter had hover around her house. She wondered if you could do that on purpose and how it might be used in a dance, as she also coaches the school's dance company.
Unlike some of the larger schools' teams, Lago said nearly half of the girls on her drill team have never danced before. When they ask if it's possible to make the team without a dance background, she tells them to give it a try.
"I tell them if it's interesting to them, then they ought to try it," she said. "What's a tryout for?"
She loves the Prop category, which alternates each year with Novelty, because it pushes coaches and dancers to be as creative and original as possible.
And while it may not be a traditional sport, she said the athletes involved get very similar benefits from participating in drill.
"They get so much out of it," Lago, whose been at Granger for 17 years. "It gets them connected to their school; it teaches them to be committed to something; it teaches them how to be motivated and how to work hard."
She said her drill team athletes are usually among the school's best students.
"It gives them confidence, builds self-esteem," she said.
Granger High and its administration are very supportive of the program, she said. "Society doesn't realize what a cool thing it is," she said. "It's underrated by those who are not involved ... . Our school loves it. It's fun to have something to cheer about it."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com