HUNTINGTON BEACH : High School Drill Team Tops Meet

There were many signs that the young women from Huntington Beach High School were a hit during a recent international drill team competition in Nagoya, Japan.

The audience in the huge indoor sports arena frequently broke into applause when the Oiler Drill Team performed its snappy routines.

Nonetheless, winning the top award in the competition came as a surprise to the 32 young women on the team.

“When they announced that we had won the top award for military drill, we all started crying,” recalled Heather Humes, 16, on Tuesday.

Added drill team captain Brande Dunn, 18, “The audience was clapping and clapping, and there we were crying, and then the whole team, all of us, ran up to receive the award.”

The team came away from last weekend’s competition with two first-place trophies, one runner-up award, and the Mayor of Nagoya’s Award for the team garnering the most points in competition.

“These will go to the high school’s trophy case and join our other trophies there,” Dunn said, noting that the 1989-90 drill team had already won about 30 other trophies in regional, state and national competitions that preceded the trip to Japan.

The drill team’s sweep of titles came under the leadership of “walk-on coach” Linda Stewart of Arcadia. Stewart, 25, became a walk-on, or part-time coach, at Huntington Beach High last fall. She took the job while completing her studies at Cal State Long Beach.

“It was my first year, and my only year, and a great year to remember,” Stewart said Tuesday. She said she will be leaving the team this year because she has enrolled at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to pursue her master’s degree.

Drill team members said they enjoyed seeing the Japanese countryside and meeting Japanese people.

“It was really hot and humid, but a lot of fun,” said Humes. “We went shopping and touring around, and we got to see the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo. And also the Imperial Palace. Everyone treated us really nice.”

Stewart said the drill team members were treated almost like movie stars by many Japanese youngsters.

“The Japanese girls, all dressed in uniforms, would come by buses to the stadium, and they would surround our girls and ask them for autographs,” Stewart said.

The team departed for Japan on July 30, and returned on Monday. Upon arriving back at Los Angeles International Airport, the young women found a large welcoming party.

“There, at the airport, all lined up with balloons and flowers and banners, were rows and rows of our parents, welcoming us home and congratulating us,” Dunn said.

Added adviser Stewart, “By the time we all said goodby, for the last time, there wasn’t a dry eye anywhere.”