The S.H.S. poms team competes in yet another season. This year the team went to one new competition in Evergreen and repeated two of the same they went to last year. This year the team competed a lyrical/contemporary dance. A lyrical/contemporary dance is a mixture between jazz and ballet which can be considered the foundation of dance. The song “Lean On Me” which was originally sung by Bill Withers. The cover of the song is from J2 The Iconic Series VOL. 2 on YouTube.
Tryouts were held in October, as soon as it was allowed by IHSA. For tryouts, the team had to show basic skills and learn a section of the dance. The team spent the next month learning the dance that they would be performing as soon as December 3. The first competition the team went to was at Evergreen Park which is a two-hour drive from S.H.S. The team went to this competition mostly to get feedback on the dance and see what needed to be kept and what needed to be changed. The team received fifth place out of six at the invite.
The team then spent the following days changing and perfecting different parts of their dance. Just a week and five days after the first competition, the team headed off to Kewanee to see if they could reclaim first place from the 21-22 season after getting second place during the 22-23 season. The team went against 11 teams and tied for first with Canton High School.
Over winter break, the team kept practicing to prepare for the Huntley Invitational on January 7. Out of the 12 teams attending the Huntley, the team received seventh place. After the invitational, the team decided to not change anything major within the dance. After getting multiple snow days and weather days the team ended up performing at the January 11 boys basketball game.
After lots of practice, the team was ready for sectionals. The team’s sectionals were at Fieldcrest High School. After dancing third, the team had an hour to sit and wait until they found out if they were able to go to state or not. Sadly, the team fell 1.5 points short, placing eighth. Senior Willa Lehman “was grateful to have a team willing to change and take corrections for the better of the dance. [the team ] always danced with our all and looking back on my senior season I am proud of every time we performed.”
The team is going to practice even harder next year to hopefully make a state appearance for the first time since 2017.
