BHS dance team 11th at state

The Brainerd High School dance team placed 11th in jazz and high kick this weekend during the state dance competition at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

"We were excited to be there and knew going in that we wouldn't finish high," said Head Coach Cindy Clough about competing in jazz, since it was the Kixters first time competing at state level. "We enjoyed the day just knowing that we had finally met our goal of making it to state in jazz."

Maple Grove, Eden Prairie and Mounds View were the top three teams in jazz.

Clough said she knew the division in high kick was going to be tough, but she thought the team would make finals. However, the team's performance was plagued by personal errors that seemed to be contagious, said Clough.

"It was a sad end to our year since we had come out ahead of most of the finalists earlier in the year," said Clough. "After performing we knew we wouldn't make it to finals and our kids handled it quite well."

The top three teams in high kick were Eastview, Apple Valley and Faribault.

Brainerd was recognized as an Academic Excellence Award winner, where the team's average grade-point average must be 3.25 or higher.

Four Brainerd Kixters were named academic all-state winners for having a GPA of 3.8 or higher and were Nikki Bender, Laura Hensel, Jenni Bedaux and Quincy Vincent.