The AHS dance team traveled to Des Moines on November 30th to compete in the ISDTA State Championship. The State team from Algona High School is made up of 10 girls and coached by Danelle VanGorkom. They competed in two routines this year, One in the pom category and the other in the kick category.
The girls put in a lot of hard work to prepare for State. They learned their routines this summer and had practice two times a week to keep everything fresh in their mind. Once school started, the girls had practice for two hours everyday leading up to December. During practice they not only ran the routines but also worked on technique, strength, and conditioning.
After putting in months of practice, the girls were finally ready to show off their routines. On November 30th, the dance team started the day by having a State send off where they showed both their pom and kick routines to the AHS students and staff. Directly after the send off, the girls took off for Des Moines. Once they were there, they headed over to Wells Fargo to watch some of the other schools compete and get an idea of how the competition would go.
To start off their morning on Friday, December 1st, the girls competed in the Class II Kick category. They performed a fun Caption America dance. The dance team had an amazing performance. They received a Division I ranking. In order to place, the team must have a Division I rating. During awards, they were announced as the 4th place winners out of 7 teams.
To follow the kick routine, the AHS dance team competed in the Class X Pom category. They danced to a sassy mix of Beyonce songs. The girls also received a Division I and placed 4th in this routine out of 12 routines.
The girls had a fun experience at State and can’t wait for next year. Freshman, Jada Roberts, said, “I really enjoyed my first State experience at Wells, and I had fun making new friends.” Congratulations girls on all of your hard work.