Lemont’s Dance Squad Earns Third Straight IHSA State Finals Berth

LEMONT, IL —For the third time straight season – and the fourth time in five years – Lemont High School’s Dance program will take part in state finals competition. Head coach Jordan Fandrey’s squad finished fifth at one of two IHSA Class 2A Sectionals at Geneva High School on Jan. 20. The school said that effort earned the Indians a berth to the 2018 IHSA Class 2A Competitive Dance State Finals, which will be contested on Friday, Jan. 26, and Saturday, Jan. 27, at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Lemont will be looking to improve on last year’s 14th-place effort, which is the program’s best state finals finish since Competitive Dance became an IHSA-sponsored sport during the 2012-13 school year.

According to the school, Lemont posted a score of 86.27 in sectional competition. Batavia (91.33) won the IHSA Sectional, while Eisenhower (90.70), Lincoln-Way West (88.53), Oak Forest (87.93) and Hinsdale South (85.73) also qualified for state finals competition from Lemont’s sectional. The top six teams from each sectional advance to the IHSA State Finals.

The preliminary rounds for Class 2A will begin at 3:15 p.m. on Friday. The top ten teams from each classification will move on to the second day of competition. Class 2A’s final round will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the awards ceremony scheduled to follow at 3:45 p.m. Tickets for the IHSA State Finals will be available at the door, and are $10 for both children and adults (children in hand are free) each session.

Fandrey’s team includes seniors Sydney Bronner, Grace Chialdikas, Alexandra Galica, Hope Heeg, Gabriela Valles and Samantha Wrobel; juniors Havanna Heeg, Angela Marseille, Natalia Mendez, Elena Miciulis, Julia Popper and Rachel Rumbaugh; sophomores Charlotte Albrecht, Sophia Antonopoulos and Hailey Sawatzky; and freshmen Elizabeth Barton, Megan Bechtlofft, Ela Svabek and Sydney Thornton.

The school said Lemont’s previous IHSA State Finals appearances came in 2014 (23rd), 2016 (15th) and 2017 (14th). The program previously had success in the TEAMDance Illinois State Championship and Illinois Dance Team Association State Finals. Lemont’s best finish ever in state competition came in 1996, when it was third in the Class AA Novelty category at the IDTA State Finals.

Photo provided by Lemont High School.