Getting their kicks at state
Dancers reach state for thirteenth straight year
Toes stretching to touch the sky as the music thunders in the stomachs of twenty-eight girls all dancing their hearts out just to receive the chance to dance on the state floor. The state tournament is held at the Target Center every year with twelve of the top teams traveling from all over Minnesota to prove they are the best in their class. Ultimately the goal of these teams is to go home with a medal wrapped around their necks. At the end of last year’s dance season the Bombers reached that goal by going home with a white third place medal. The dancers also left with great pride in what they had accomplished and even higher hopes for the next season.Then something unexpected happened and those dancers hopes were crushed.
The head coach was fired leaving the team scrambling to find a new head coach in time to get the season off to the right start. Hiring the previous assistant coach as head coach was decided and the planning for the fast approaching season began. As a result of this change, a new assistant coach was hired and together the new duo decided to lay some more responsibility on to the seniors by putting them in charge of creating formations, cutting the music, and coming up with choreography. When asked to describe the beginning of the season captain Brooke Stein said, “We faced a lot of struggles and weren’t sure of the outcome,” which was evident after the first couple of competitions when the Bombers didn’t place as well as many had hoped.
After a rough start to the season the team decided some changes had to be made. Spending Christmas break changing formations, editing the music, and changing choreography the team came out with a whole new dance and a new found confidence, later going on to get first at conference and fourth at a regular competition. These accomplishments gave the team a strong desire to bring this new dance to the state floor. This drive to go to state made the team buckle down and really nitpick at their dance. Hard work and dedication paid off earning the Bombers a third place ribbon at sections and a trip to state.
Mary Franz
The team was just happy to be participating in the state tournament for the thirteenth straight year especially with how the season had started out. Taking it step by step was the goal the coaches set first by making it to state and then going to finals. Junior Morgan Thumann describes the experience as, “ an amazing and unforgettable moment making every struggle at the beginning worth the end result.” The Bombers got sixth overall meaning they did make finals. Stein says, “Getting sixth at state was a huge success that I am so proud of!”
With such a positive ending to the season the girls high hopes are back and stronger than ever. Coming away from this season many of the girls say this is the closest the team has ever been and they truly feel like a family. Being able to go to state and earning the right to say top six in the state is a huge accomplishment that the Bombers couldn’t be more proud of
Taylor is the Lantern's fiery Arts and Entertainment editor. She has enough energy to keep Chicago running for a week, and channels it in Dance, Soccer,...
Mary is a writer and photographer for the Lantern. She is involved with musicals, one-act plays and the speech team.