Goldusters place at state

On Friday, Dec. 6, at the Dance and Drill Team State Championship, the Goldusters placed fourth overall, after not placing at a state level for the past eight years. They also received a Division I rating in the class VII Jazz division, and a Division I rating in the class XIII Pom division as well.

The championship was held at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The team traveled to Des Moines on Thursday night, and used the remainder of the night to blow off steam at their hotel before competing.

In order to be eligible to compete at state, head coaches Jenny Steiner and Carrie Wells had to register the team and decide which styles of dance the girls would compete with.

From there, the state championship officials organized each school’s dance team into a category based on the school’s size.

“I think our routines were more visually appealing this year because we had a bigger team with more girls,” senior Emma Hovey said.

During state practices, the team reviewed their choreography over and over again until everyone was on the same page. The team also had to quickly adapt to new choreography changes made by Steiner and by Wells during their longer practices.

“I tried to remind myself and the team that although practice is hard right now, hard work always pays off, so we just had to keep that in mind,” senior Savana Thorsen said.

“Going into state, I was hoping that as a team, everyone would give each routine their all, and that the judges would take into account how much we’ve improved since last year,” senior captain Ashley McKim said.

After performing their jazz and pom routines, the team was anxious, yet excited to hear how well they did.

During awards, McKim remembers feeling incredibly happy, yet bittersweet because it was her last time competing at a state level with the Goldusters.

Goldusters proud of their accomplishments at the Dance and Drill Team State Championship