Highland dance teams sweep their competition
The three Highland School District dance teams swept their competition and brought home first-place trophies in all eight of the categories they competed in on Saturday at the Edwardsville Illinois Drill Team Association (IDTA) Regional at Edwardsville High School.
The HHS varsity dance team led the way by garnering first place in all four of its categories: AA Jazz, AA Lyrical, AA pom Dance and IHSA.
In addition, varsity soloist Abigail Rogier, who is also a senior co-captain along with Kayla Davis, katie Etter and Olivia Genteman, received second place with her solo routine and qualified for the IDTA State Competition to be held Feb. 9-11 at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center in Springfield.
The HHS junior varsity dance squad merited first place in both JV Jazz and and JV Lyrical and the Highland Middle School dance team earned first place in both Junior High Lyrical and Junior High Jazz.
“Yesterday went great. It was a clean sweep for the highland dance programs,” HHS varsity dance coach Emily Wellen said on Sunday. “Speaking on the varsity’s behalf, we have been working very hard and making great changes to our routines. It was a great feeling to hear the feedback and see the hard work pay off.”
Genteman, one of the four team co-captains, said she is so proud of what the team has accomplished.
“We are always adding, replacing and changing things up in each dance along with drilling them every single day,” Genteman said. “Getting a clean sweep is an amazing feeling and the results say it all. The Highland Dance Team is not backing down.”
The HHS varsity dance team will next compete at the IHSA Mascoutah Sectional on Jan. 20. The IHSA State Finals will be held Jan. 25-27 in Bloomington. The squad will then compete at the Highland IDTA Regional on Feb. 3 before wrapping up the season Feb. 9-11 at the IDTA State Competition.
The HHS varsity dance team consists of Kayla Davis, Bree Etherton, Katie Etter, Alexis Finely, Paige Foster, Olivia Genteman, Kylie McFarland, Abbey Mortland, Claire Pabst, Abigail Rogier Tatum Stock and Brooke Wilson.
The HHS junior varsity dance team is composed of Brianne Barbee, Tegan Beard, Lily Jakel, Shelby Stallard, Riley Stewart and Jessie Wieter.
The HMS dance team is made up of Kaleigh Casper, Paige Crawford, Mackenzie Daiber, Kate Drueke, Nevaeh Fensterman, Michayla Grieve, Reaghan Henrichs, Isabelle Hodge, Lacey Schroeder and Julia Synder.
This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Highland dance teams sweep their competition."