Dance teams advance
The Pequot Lakes and Pierz High School dance teams each are taking their two dance routines south - to St. Paul that is.
Both area teams qualified Saturday in their section meet to advance to the state competition. The state dance meet will be Feb. 15-16 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Aitkin High School dance team will be joining the two area teams at state, but only in the high kick competition.
The top three teams in each section qualify for state.
The Pequot Lakes Revolution dance team met that goal in Section 4A. The dance team took top honors in jazz and third place in high kick. The Section 4A meet was at Hawley High School.
Head Coach Amber Peterson said Pequot Lakes has competed at state in both categories for the past eight years.
"The girls did a great job Saturday," said Peterson. "They executed both routines well. It was a close competition in high kick, but they made it."
The Pequot Lakes Revolution dance team performed its high kick routine Saturday at the Section 4A meet at Hawley High School.
Other Brainerd lakes area teams who competed in Section 4A were Wadena, which placed ninth in high kick and Pine River-Backus, which placed 11th.
This is the first year the Pierz dance team has qualified for state in both dance categories, said Kristen Funk, Pierz dance coach. Pierz took third place in both high kick and jazz.
Pierz competes in Section 2A, with Aitkin and Crosby-Ironton. The section meet was Saturday at Aitkin High School.
"The girls were really excited," said Funk. "They danced really well and nailed everything. We're really proud of them. This was by far their best performance they've ever done."
The Aitkin dance team won in high kick and took fourth place in jazz.
Head Coach Lisa Roth said the team just missed going to state in jazz by a half ranking point.
"The girls were a little down about not making it in jazz, but they nailed their high kick routine," said Roth. "One of our main dancers had the flu so we had to make some changes."
The Crosby-Ironton dance team didn't qualify for state in either category. The team took fifth in high kick and sixth in jazz.
Crosby dance coach Nikki Wassen said it was tough on the team to not qualify for state.
"It was a bummer," Wassen said. "But we had a blast and we looked good. The girls had a lot of energy. It was a tough competition."