By Shreya Thakkar
Associate Editor in Chief

Members of competitive dance team were all laughter, tears and screams after they found out that they qualified for state and placed second out of 15 teams at this past Saturday’s sectional competition. According to team captain, senior Monika Orzel, doing so well considering that this is the team’s first year of existence only added to the excitement.
“When we heard [we got] second place, we all got up and started hugging each other and crying just because we knew that was the goal we were working towards for the entire season,” Orzel said. “It was a great ending especially for us seniors since it’s our first and last year on the team.”
The sectional competition was held at Lake Park High School, and the top six teams qualified for the state competition this Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday Jan. 31 in Bloomington, Illinois.
According to coach Kristin Burton, what may have set Prospect’s routine apart from the others was that Prospect was one of two schools that performed a contemporary style routine, the other being Lake Park High School who placed first.
“I would say 90 percent of the routines were pom routines [at this particular sectional], so I think [our contemporary routine] stuck out,” Burton said.
After getting a Prospect send-off accompanied by the drumline, the team will compete in the preliminary round at state on Friday against 30 teams. Then on Saturday, 10 of those teams will advance to the final round.
According to Burton, the team’s first goal is to be able to compete on Saturday by making top ten. Then, their next goal is to make close to top three.
“[It’s a big goal], but the way our sectional scores look, we should make top ten.” Assistant Coach Shirley Kiratsous said.
According to Orzel, the team first recognized their potential at the first competition of the season at Fremd High School on
Saturday, Nov. 22.
“[At Fremd], we wanted to see how we would place against all the other teams who have been doing this for years,” Orzel said. “So, when we got fifth place it was a big [deal] for us because our coaches realized we are competitive against other teams.”
Although at the beginning of the season Burton expected the team to do well, she was “thrilled” when she found out just how well they did.
“It’s very rewarding because we all put in a lot of time and we sacrificed a lot,” Burton said.
Looking forward to next year, Burton hopes to only grow stronger.
“I look forward to building upon this year, becoming stronger [and] making our dancers stronger,” Burton said. “I think this has been a new experience for all of us and we’re all very excited to keep going and work harder.”