Lakes Dance Team Takes First at State

(Editor's note: I just got this very exciting note from Deb Yearsley, student accounts secretery at )

The Lakes Dance Team set a GOAL in July at camp and they achieved that goal on Saturday at the WIAA 3A Dance/Drill STate Competition held in the Sundome at Yakima.

The Lakes Hip Hop team pulled off a very close finish for first place. Lakes received a "Superior" ranking with a 460 out of 500 points, just barely taking the first place away from defending 2011 state champs Sunnyside (458.75) and nationally ranked Shorecrest (457.25).

This year's Lakes dance team is an extraordinary group. In order to be a state championship dance team, every member of the team has to be committed to the goal. It's a very long road. We begin learning our competition routines in October.

People think all that is involved in being on dance team is dancing, but it is much, much more. Our practices are very tedious. They involve making sure the whole team is synchronized. This is a team sport and every team member must have synchronized levels, movements, and angles. It involves practicing moves over and over. The placement of the whole team's arms, legs, bodies, and heads must be the same. Unlike other sports, we don't spend our practices doing different plays; there are some practices where all we do is one 8 count over and over until it is perfected. To be a member of a state championship dance team, you have to commit to these agonizingly boring team practices, as well as perfecting your own skills by practicing at home.

Lakes POM team also did very well.  They received an exceptional ranking placing sixth with a score of 421.