This article originally appeared in the February 14, 2018 issue of The Clarion. 

This season has been quite the adventure for the competitive Poms team, the Pupettes! With six new girls and a second year coach, there were quite a lot of obstacles for the girls to overcome.

Coach Madelyn Doyle and the girls have worked very hard throughout the season perfecting their competition dance and luckily, all of their hard work paid off. This led them to a victory at Sectionals and placing 24th in the state competition.

The team consists of two seniors, four juniors, five sophomores, and one freshman. The girls have been practicing every day after school for two hours since the football season ended and the competition season began.  

“I think we all work very well together. We did a lot of team bonding before the season even started,” said sophomore Izabela Gilhooley.

At the girls’ competition, they are scored on ten individual categories: Choreography, musicality, difficulty, technique, synchronization, staging, transitions, spacing, showmanship, and the overall visual effect of the piece. All are worth 10 points and are weighed equally in final scoring.

“Recreational dance is very different from competition dance. In recreational dance you are telling a story and preparing for a final showcase. With competition dance, you are trying to tell a story as well as needing good technique and you are preparing for multiple competitions and the chance at State or Nationals,” said senior Lilly Dziagwa.

Overall, the girls have had a very good season. They all were able to blend together to make their pieces cohesive and meet their ultimate goal of going to state.

“I am really proud of my team. We made it to state and the chance to perform at state was exactly our goal. I am really proud,” said Gilhooley.

On February 2nd, the Little Pupettes got to dance with the Varsity Poms through a fundraiser in which the proceeds will go back into Poms for whatever they needed throughout the season.

“We did Little Pupettes in October and again recently and I loved both performances. It is just so amazing being able to see the faces of the little girls when they get the chance to dance with high schoolers at a varsity game. I love that I get to be a role model to them and hopefully help pave the way to their potential dance career. I remember when I was little I always looked up to the high school girls and thought it was the coolest thing when I got to be by them and now that I’m older I am so happy that I can be someone that the little girls look up to,” said freshman Catherine Glawe.

Glawe has been dancing since she was three and is the only freshman on the Varsity Poms team, but she says it was an easy adjustment because the team quickly made her feel very welcome.

“At first being the only freshman was scary, especially because I am kind of shy, but they are the nicest girls ever and we are such a close team that my initial fear melted away very quickly,” Glawe said.

The girls season has been very successful and will be coming to an end next week following their senior night.