Troy Middle School Dance Team Places At State

Photo: The Troy Middle School Dance Team did well at State competition this season.

__________________________

The Troy Middle School Dance Team placed 5th in Jazz, 7th in Lyrical and 7th in Hip Hop at this year’s Illinois Drill Team Association’s State Dance Competition, Junior High Division, held in Springfield.

Coaches Trisha Koerner and Christine Thoele said to qualify for State, the team had to score at least a 70 in two regional competitions, including for Hip Hop, which was a new category for the team this year.

“This year at State,” Koerner said, “we had a fierce competition in Lyrical, Hip Hop and Jazz. Just to qualify for State is a real honor. Our dancers worked tirelessly to perfect their skills and execute the choreography, and while we did not end up in the top three as we hoped, we went up 1.7 in Lyrical and 7.8 in Jazz scores from our last State competition. The growth was something to be proud of this year, and the experiences will last a lifetime.”

Team members are 7th graders McKenzie Boyer, Abrianna Contreras, Taea Guseman, Jillian Pranckus, Sydney Prosek and Alaina Rothbart. Eighth graders are Ava Goodwin, Camryn Gray, Kailey Heyduk, Maliyah Kajdi, Maisie Olznoi, Emily Scott, Sean Thoele and Karlie Werrbach. Dance Manager was Olivia Thoele.

The coaches said they had many to thank, including three choreographers.

“We have been lucky to work with three choreographers to help make our vision come to life,” they said. “We’d like to thank Kevin Ivins for Lyrical, Alvin Ramierez for Hip Hop and Cindy Olznoi for Jazz.

Troy Middle School is a Troy Community School District 30-C school.