Jamie McCarty was a terrific boys basketball coach at Stayton High. He continues to excel at Silverton. No state titles.
Darren Shryock, the AD at Stayton High, coached boys hoops at Silverton for more than a decade. Two third-place finishes at state.
Chris Shields has set the standard for youth and high school soccer coaching in the Stayton area. One state title, in 2010.
Winning state titles is hard. Everything has to go right. You have to have the right mix of kids. The luck sometimes has to go your way. There are coaches all over the state who have had great careers… but have never won a state title.
And then there is Robin Meier. The coach of the Stayton Highlights dance and drill squad for two decades retired this spring with an astonishing 14 state titles. Add in five runner-ups at Stayton plus a first and a second at McKay. Add in a state title in 1987 while performing for Stayton in her senior year at the school.
From 2003 through 2014 Meier led the Highlights to 12 consecutive state titles.
Kind of makes us all look like underachievers, doesn’t it?
“Robin is a fierce competitor,” Shryock said. “She did not accept anything less than perfection. Her kids love her because they know she has high expectations but that she genuinely cares for them at the same time.”
And Meier made dance and drill matter in Stayton. When the Highlights performed at halftime at football and basketball games human nature got turned around. Nobody left their seats to buy a hot dog or take a walk. Everybody stayed and watched the Highlights. Concession sales dropped like a rock.
Meier, 51, fell in love with dance watching her older sister compete at Stayton.
“I would go and watch her competitions with my parents,” Meier told Our Town. “I fell in love with it then, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”
And she put her heart and soul into it.
“To be a successful coach there are so many things that are needed, but the biggest is a very strong work ethic. Coaching is a full-time job. You have to be willing to put the time in on every aspect of the program if you want to see results. You have to be able to problem-solve, work with not only the kids but parents as well. You need to be creative. Have a vision, but also know how to make that vision come to life out on the dance floor. You need to be a good communicator and a good motivator. Dance team is such a long season, if you can’t motivate your team on a daily basis, you will not be successful.”
All state championship teams are special. Meier just has more to choose from than most coaches. For her, 2012 stands out.
“My oldest daughter (Lexi) was a senior, my youngest (Belle) a sophomore. We were going for our tenth consecutive state championship. We had a lot of injuries that year. There was a feeling of ‘Stayton can’t win ten in a row.’ We weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we practiced and worked harder than ever leading up to that state event. That team rose to the occasion and performed flawlessly. Even under all that pressure to get the number 10. I was so proud of them and of that performance. Sharing that with my two daughters is something I will cherish forever!”
Coaching her daughters changed her, Meier said.
“My daughters would say I softened up the last few years of my career. I think coaching my own two girls, I saw what the kids go through, and how much I was really asking of them. I also think I just got better at my craft as far as the quality of performances we put out on the floor. I worked at really understanding and learning what the judges wanted to see out there, and made sure I knew and understood how to do that.”
See, that’s another difference between dance and other sports. If Chris Shields’ Eagles soccer team scores more goals they win. Period. With dance you have to perform great… but also convince the judges that you are worthy.
Meier already had made the decision to retire when the 2019-20 season got rolling. And given her fierce competitiveness she clearly wanted to go out with another title, the Highlights were in top form and the state championships were just a week away when the OSAA scrubbed the winter season.
“I have loved coaching. I’ve loved being in the gym with these kids and creating these masterpieces with them for 25 years. I truly believe it was something I was called to do. Ending my 25-year career with ‘no ending’ has been really hard. There was no good-bye, no farewell. It just stopped one day. I truly wish I could have seen this final piece on the Coliseum floor. It was my goodbye to the past 25 years, so it feels unfinished and incomplete.”
So why retire now?
“I feel like it’s just time. 25 years of giving all you have for three hours a day, six days a week takes its toll on you. I want to spend more time with my family. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything I can in this sport, and now it’s time for me to rest and be with my kids and husband (Chris) more.”
How does she plan to spend her “retirement years.”
“Lots and lots of family time. Vacationing and just having a free schedule. I don’t know what that’s like, but I can’t wait to find out.”
New coach: Shryock announced May 8 that April Hermann will take over the program. Hermann, a Stayton High graduate, Highlights performer and middle school and high school assistant “brings a vast knowledge of dance with her,” Shryock said. “While taking over a program the magnitude of Stayton High School dance is a challenge, April is more than up for it. She will make the program her own while maintaining the extraordinary standards that have already been set.”
Follow me on Twitter.com @jameshday.
