The young ladies of the Decatur Drill and Dance Team may not crack shoulder pads or make a head-first slide into home, but anyone who dares to question whether these athletes work as hard as the boys has never sat in on one of their practices.

One moment the girls might be repeating a segment of their nationally-recognized routine, slamming their bodies against the gym floor and jumping to their feet again just as quickly. The next, they might be taking an earful from Coach Lindsay Starr, an often vociferous perfectionist that demands--and often receives--nothing short of maximum effort from her team.

Last month, the Gators brought home a second-place trophy at State among a highly competitive field of Washington's best performers. While not the first place award they'd hoped for, the victory stands as another advancement for a talented team that continues to improve, having brought home third place last year and fourth the year before.

At this rate, the Gators have but one goal left to achieve, and they appear on track to get there.

The work seems grueling, and the year-round commitment scares away all but the most dedicated athletes at Decatur.

"We prepare for competiton in October and November," said Coach Starr, "and we work all the way until March."

"Right now," she said, "we've reached the end of the competition season, but we're still practicing hard."

The team starts tryouts this week and will continue to work through every school holiday throughout the year. Its members aren't even allowed to have jobs.

When asked if the Drill Team had the hardest practice schedule of any sports team at Decatur, Starr simply responded, "Oh, yeah."

"The team that won State performed more of a gymnastics routine," said senior Sydnee Williams, lead choreographer and de facto assistant coach in her fourth year on the squad. "They had a lot of kicks, and they had a move where they stood on their heads and did a split."

The competition might have earned style points with the judges, but the Gators' routine wowed them with its originality and spunk.

"We came up with the routine at the beginning of the year for the competition in November," Starr said, "but we made minor changes to it throughout the year."

At one point this year, they scrapped the routine all together.

"The week of districts, we changed the whole routine and the song," Starr said. "And the team earned a superior having only known the routine for three or four days."

The team missed first place there by four points.

Williams said the field of participants in the drill routine is the most competitive of the entire state tournament.

Whereas some events may only feature two or three exceptionally talented schools, the Gators had to compete with an army of quality teams.

"You can't just walk in the room and instantly tell who's going to win," Williams said.

Starr said little more than a few points and a lot of luck separates the entire field of placing schools.

"I've had judges come up to me and say how astonished and amazed they were with our creativity and originality," Starr said.

"It's really exciting to hear their compliments," the coach added, "because we like being different than everyone else."

When the rest of the competition takes the floor with a routine of light steps and smiling faces, the Gators bring an edgy routine with angry music and stoic expressions.

They've developed an identity that sets them apart.

"Everything we do is a surprise," Williams added, "every time we go out there."