Road to regionals: recapping dance team state

The West High dance team competed this past weekend in Des Moines for their state competition.

Paige Albright, Managing Co-Editor, Podcast Editor

The state dance team competition was held at Wells Fargo arena, dance teams from across the state compete against schools of similar size for state titles. West High moved up this year in a school-size division to the largest possible class, making the competition this year much more intense. Teams West competed against for the first time at state included Linn-Marr, Waukee Northwest, Johnston, Southeast Polk and more.

Even with the increased competition, the dancers under the leadership of Head coach Kayla Drow and Assistant coach Maddy Floss came home ranked as one of the top dance teams in the state.

Results:  

All of West’s six state soloists received “Division One” rankings. This means the scores they earned on their solos reached a certain point threshold. West did not have any dancers place in the top ten in the 5a solo competition, however. West High placed fifth in large school contemporary, and fourth in division twelve pom. West was 0.5 of a point away from third place in pom, almost two places higher than last year.

What’s next:

The dance team will compete again in a month at Universal Dance Association (UDA) regionals in Minneapolis against teams from across the Midwest. West High students can watch the dance team during halftimes of upcoming basketball games, showcasing their pom and jazz routines.