The Kelly Walsh Dance Team competed at the UDA National Dance Team Championship on February 3, 2018, in Orlando, Florida.

Emotions were high at the competition as this was the one-year anniversary of the death of a teammate, Aurora Rohrer. “I think performing over such an emotional weekend has its pros and cons. I love that we got to dance for Aurora, but it was very hard keeping all of our emotions under control while dancing,” said Mariah Hartgrave, a senior.

The girls had been preparing since October of 2017 for this competition. They practiced every morning before school and even had after school practices when the time of competition was near. Not only would they go over their dances, they would work out and run to help build stamina for the big performance.

Although this wasn’t their first time at nationals, this was their first time competing in both the hip hop and pom categories. The first time the dance team competed at nationals they got 11^th in the small varsity hip hop category. They missed competing in finals by .13 points. This year the girls placed 11^th again in both small varsity pom and hip hop.

“My freshman year when we went to nationals, I would have danced if we made it to finals because 2 girls had gotten hurt the second time we performed. I remember being super stressed out because I hadn’t really practiced with the other girls that were in the dance. All of that pressure was hard to handle as a freshman. This year was different because I was no longer an alternate. I had an actual spot. I had more experience under my belt and I had been practicing with the group all year. Of course I was still nervous, but I was more comfortable and confident this time,” said Lexi Howery a junior.

Getting 11^th again at a national competition has been very infuriating for the girls. “At first it was really frustrating to come that close to finals again. But when it’s all in perspective, its really rewarding to be 11^th. Going to nationals is really eye opening and watching the teams who did make finals inspires us to become even better and to reach their level,” said Caitlinne Chenoweth a senior.

The girls came back from the trip and started right back up with morning practices. Now their goal is to win their 11^th and 12^th consecutive state titles at the state spirit competition in March.