Port Townsend’s Sea Gal back in game for Seahawks victory parade today in Seattle

By Charlie Bermant
Peninsula Daily News
Fegruary 4, 2014

SEATTLE — After today’s parade that celebrates the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory, Port Townsend native Brita Guthrie’s life will go back to normal.

She had already been back to her full-time job in the marketing department at www.Zulily.com, an online supplier of children’s clothing, for one day Tuesday after performing as a member of the Sea Gals cheer and dance team at Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Jersey.

She was seriously sleep-deprived but in a very good mood.

“We only got about two hours of sleep a night, but it was worth it,” she said.

“On Friday morning, when we were waiting to go on the ‘Today’ show, I was thinking that I’m really going to miss getting up at 4:30 in the morning to be with the other girls.”

She’ll take a day off today to be part of a parade in Seattle that celebrates the Seahawks dominating the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.

From Guthrie’s vantage point, the game didn’t seem lopsided.

“Every player on the field gave their best to the game, and whoever plays the best will win,” she said.

“There are so many emotions tied up in a game of this caliber. The fact that the Seahawks were playing so well made us all proud.”

Guthrie, who graduated from Port Townsend High School in 2008, is a member of the 33-member squad that performs dances and cheers between plays.

Going to the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., was a special treat because it is the only occasion when the squad performs outside of the Seahawks’ home stadium.

At CenturyLink Field, the women split into groups of eight and dance at each corner of the field, outside of the goalposts.

At the Super Bowl, the Sea Gals performed on opposite ends of one side of the field while the Denver Broncos’ squad took the other side.

While the Super Bowl was considered an away game for the Seahawks, there were plenty of Seattle fans, including some who Guthrie recognized, in the stadium cheering the team on.

“It was amazing to see how many fans had made the trip,” she said.

“It made it more like a home game.”

While she is a dedicated Seahawks fan, the payoff, she said, is that she gets to dance in public. Once she left Port Townsend, there weren’t a lot of places she could dance, and she said she missed it.

While attending the University of Washington, Guthrie decided to audition for the school’s cheerleading squad, which led to a successful audition for the Sea Gals.

If she chooses to try out again, it’s not a done deal, she said, because even returning squad members are required to audition each year.

During Super Bowl weekend, the Sea Gals stayed in Manhattan in New York City, a place Guthrie had visited only once before during a family trip when she was in middle school.

Guthrie is the daughter of Port Townsend High School teacher Jim Guthrie and his wife, Carol. Brita has a 22-year-old sister, Kirsten.

Jim Guthrie said he didn’t spot his daughter on TV during the game but was able to pick out the back of her head during the trophy ceremony at the end.

After the game, the cheerleaders and players attended a huge victory party that featured entertainment by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and a performance by a band led by Seahawks owner Paul Allen on guitar.

While earning a national championship has been a long-term goal for many 12th Man fans, the trip gave Brita Guthrie a chance to fulfill one of her childhood ambitions.

“When I was 8 years old, my dream was to be on the ‘Today’ show,” she said.

“I used to tell my parents that whatever I do, I want to be good enough so I am featured on the ‘Today’ show.

“This was a real-life dream come true.”