[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 134 (Thursday, August 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12314-S12315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   JUNEAU DRILL TEAM WORLD CHAMPIONS

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the drill team from Juneau-Douglas High 
School in the capital of my State recently won the world championship 
International Dance-Drill Competition in Nagoya, Japan.
  In recognition of their accomplishment, I ask that articles from the 
Juneau Empire detailing the team's achievements be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the articles were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Juneau Empire, August 6, 1995]

 Drill Team World Champs!--Juneau Girls Sweep All Three Categories in 
                                 Japan

                             (By Mike Sica)

       They're the best on the planet.
       The Juneau-Douglas High School Drill Team dazzled the 
     world, performing the best show, military and prop routines 
     at the International Dance-Drill Competition today in Nagoya, 
     Japan.
       The girls also received a special award from the mayor of 
     Nagoya.
       Drill team head coach Leslie Dahl said it was hard to 
     understand what was being said because it was all in 
     Japanese.
       ``All I know is the mayor thinks we're the best,'' Dahl 
     said.
       So did the panel of judges who ranked the Juneau girls 
     ahead of hundreds of other competitors spanning the globe.
       The JDHS drill team finished ahead of two Japanese squads 
     in the show routine, beat California and Australia in the 
     military march, and topped Japan and California in the prop 
     routine.
       ``This is beyond our wildest imaginations,'' an excited 
     Dahl said over the phone just minutes after the announcement 
     of the winners. ``The girls had to push Jennifer Frederick 
     (team captain) forward because she thought she had heard 
     wrong, she just couldn't believe it.''
       Neither could Craig Dahl, Leslie's husband and a member of 
     the Drill Team Dads. He didn't expect the girls to win the 
     show routine, only because they had few props compared to 
     their competitors in that category.
       ``I'm sure they drew the crowd into their routine,'' he 
     figured. ``It's exactly what they did in Long Beach (Calif.), 
     when they won the three national titles'' earlier this year.
       Craig Dahl said the girls must have turned it on under 
     pressure, captivating the audience with their energy and 
     enthusiasm.
       ``It's absolutely fantastic, they're as good as we think 
     they are,'' he added.
       Juneau made the finals, making the first cut with their 
     preliminary performances on Saturday. Leslie Dahl knew they 
     were strong in the prop routine but thought they were shaky 
     in the military march.

[[Page S 12315]]

       She was also concerned about the show routine because 
     Juneau did not have props that the other teams from Japan 
     had. Dahl said it was time to be daring.
       ``We decided to go for it in finals, show them what we 
     really can do,'' she said. ``We had nothing to lose.''
       There were about 7,000 people jam-packed in the huge arena 
     in Nagoya, and they responded to the Juneau girls.
       ``It felt like we were in the Olympics, with the lighting 
     turned down and spotlights flashing,'' Leslie Dahl said. ``It 
     was unbelievable, especially the way the people supported 
     us.''
       The drill team will head back to Juneau on Monday. But they 
     were off to a reception today, ready to exchange gifts and 
     trade T-Shirts.
       ``A lot of Japanese students want to take pictures of the 
     girls,'' she said. ``They're not used to seeing girls so 
     tall.''
       Craig Dahl said the sweep in the International competition 
     was the drill team's way of thanking Juneau for its 
     generosity.
       ``The whole community supported the girls and they repayed 
     the town with three world titles,'' he said.
       Leslie Dahl agreed.
       ``The girls worked so hard, and so did the community,'' she 
     said before rushing to a bus that would take the Juneau girls 
     to the reception honoring them.
       ``Juneau should be proud!''
       So should Alaska and the United States.
                                                                    ____

                [From the Juneau Empire, August 9, 1995]

   The Champs Return--Enthusiastic Crowd Greets Drill Team at Airport

                             (By Mike Sica)

       About 400 people celebrated the Juneau-Douglas High School 
     Drill Team as most of its members returned home after winning 
     three world championship trophies at an international 
     competition in Japan.
       The enthusiastic crowd at the Juneau Airport Tuesday 
     carried balloons, flowers and placards. One sign said, 
     ``World's Greatest!'' Another read, ``JDHS Drill Team--The 
     Pride of Alaska, The Pride of the USA.''
       And there was one that said, ``The Best on the Planet,'' 
     which has become the team's rallying cry.
       Family, friends and fans waited anxiously for the team to 
     arrive.
       ``I'm here to support my sister,'' 16-year-old James 
     Roberts said of Jodi Timothy. ``I want to congratulate her 
     and give her a Coke.''
       Drill Team dad Jay Boone paced the floor, waiting to see 
     his daughter Gretchen.
       And Charlie and Barbara Mitchell joked about living with a 
     world champion.
       ``We'll have to open our double doors wide enough to fit 
     her head through,'' Barbara Mitchell said. ``But really, 
     we're just very proud of them all. They worked very hard and 
     deserve this.''
       Linda Egan said she was excited for her daughter Leslie and 
     the rest of the girls, ``not just for winning but for the 
     chance to meet people of different nationalities.''
       Charlotte Richards said her daughter Erin called about 4 
     a.m. Sunday (Alaska Standard Time), saying Saturday was the 
     ``the greatest day of her life.''
       ``She wasn't talking about winning as much as meeting kids 
     from other countries,'' the proud mother explained. ``The 
     amazing thing is that on the same day they won, Japan was 
     observing the end of World War II.
       ``It's neat that the grandchildren of former enemies can 
     enjoy each other so much.''
       Bart Rozell made the trip to Japan with his two daughters, 
     Mariah and Rebecca. He said the Japanese were wonderful 
     hosts.
       ``The atmosphere was so friendly and receptive,'' he said. 
     ``They treated our kids like celebrities, asking for 
     autographs and wanting to have pictures taken with them.
       ``The girls had to pinch themselves, making sure it wasn't 
     a dream.''
       There were lots of hugs, kissing and tears as the girls 
     entered the airport lounge. The crowd then moved to the Taku 
     Room for brief presentations.
       Mayor and drill team parent Dennis Egan told the girls the 
     city, state and country are proud of them. He then told a 
     story about a fax he sent to his daughter Leslie.
       ``I told her, You still had to clean up your room when you 
     get back, it looks exactly like it did when you left,'' Egan 
     said.
       The Juneau mayor announced a special community reception 
     for the drill team will be held next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in 
     Centennial Hall
                                                                    ____

                [From the Juneau Empire, August 9, 1995]

 Captain's Comeback Highlights Return--Drill Team Gets Warm Welcome in 
                              Return Home

                             (By Mike Sica)

       Jennifer Frederick typifies the never-say-die attitude of 
     the Juneau-Douglas High School Drill Team, going from 
     wheelchair to world champ in less than a year and helping her 
     teammates become ``the best on the planet.''
       That phrase--which has become the team's slogan since it 
     won world championships in the show, military and prop 
     routines at the International Dance-Drill Competition in 
     Nagoya, Japan last week--was repeated time and again Tuesday 
     evening at the Juneau Airport as the Drill Team returned home 
     to a hero's welcome.
       A crowd of about 700 people made up of friends, family 
     members and well-wishers packed the airport to congratulate 
     the Drill Team.
       Frederick, who almost died in a car wreck last September, 
     was full of life as she addressed the huge crowd Tuesday 
     night at the Juneau Airport.
       ``Thank you very much from our hearts for giving us this 
     opportunity to go (to Japan)'', said Frederick, who is the 
     drill team captain. ``It was amazing and wonderful, and we 
     couldn't have done it without you.''
       The team raised about $60,000--mostly in Juneau--to pay for 
     the trip.
       Carrying three big trophies and a special award from 
     Nagoya's mayor, they stepped into the departure lounge from 
     the Alaska Airlines jet that brought them home.
       The crowd cheered each team member individually, from 
     coaches Leslie Dahl and Evonne Noonan to 16 of the 20 girls 
     who competed in Japan. Four other drill team members stayed 
     in the Lower 48 on family vacations.
       Longtime high school basketball coach Jim Hamey was one of 
     many people on the evening to remark in disbelief about the 
     team's success.
       ``I've seen them quite a bit and they know I'm a big fan,'' 
     he said. ``They work so hard and are disciplined. The staff 
     and students at the high school are very proud of them.''
       Hamey said whenever he's concerned about the work ethic of 
     his basketball players, he tells them to go watch the drill 
     team practice. He then joked about wishing he coached the 
     drill team after seeing the huge crowd welcoming them home at 
     the airport.
       After being introduced as the coach of the ``best drill 
     team on the plant,'' Leslie Dahl praised the community for 
     its generosity.
       ``The people in Japan asked us how many years it took to 
     raise the money for our trip,'' she said.
       It took less than two months to collect the $60,000.
       Dahl said the Japanese treated the Juneau girls ``like 
     heroes.''
       Erin Richards said the Korean and Japanese kids followed 
     the Drill Team everywhere.
       ``The asked me about my hobbies, kept touching my hair and 
     wanted me to sing a song,'' she explained. I sang `The Rose,' 
     by Bette Midler. They said I had beautiful eyes and that I 
     looked like a movie star.
       ``They were the sweetest people on earth * * * it's the 
     nicest I've ever been treated by people who didn't know me.''
       For team captain Frederick, the Japan trip was the 
     culmination of an incredible comeback.
       She suffered 19 fractures and punctured a lung in a car 
     crash on September 6. She took 18 units of blood and was put 
     on a ventilator as she laid unconscious for several days at 
     Seattle's Harborview Medical Center.
       Her mother Susan said the first thing her daughter talked 
     about when she came out of her coma was the drill team.
       ``She woke up in intensive care asking if Leslie and her 
     teammates knew about the accident,'' said her mother Susan.
       Her father David said the coaches and girls were 
     responsible for his daughter's amazing recovery.
       ``I can't say enough things about Leslie. Evonne and the 
     girls,'' David Frederick said. They really pulled her 
     through, making her feel like she belonged to the team and 
     was needed.
       ``There's no doubt in my mind that they made her more 
     determined to recover.''
       ``I knew I'd be back on the drill team again,'' Jennifer 
     Frederick said Monday night. ``My coaches, my teammates, my 
     family and the community helped me get better faster.''

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________