By Sean Muth

Sentry Staff Reporter

The odds were not in the dancers’ favor this year. With only four spots open this year on the dance team’s roster, the number of young ladies trying out meant that some would leave disappointed. The team that is best known for their performances during halftime at the football games just held their tryouts, and this year there was little room for error for those who tried out for the small number of available spots.

Hannah Heidrich, a sophomore on the dance team, explained why the number of open spots this year was so low.

“It changes every year.The coach decides how many people she will take depending on how many seniors are leaving. And this year there were four people leaving,” she said.

The team always has many people tryout each year. This doesn’t exclude the girls who were members the year before.

“This year there were thirty people that tried out,” said Heidrich. “Everyone who was already on the team has to tryout two years in a row. So if you have been on the team for one year, you have to tryout again. Once you have tried out for two years and made it each year, you are officially on the team.”

The dance team tryouts lasted for one week from Monday, April 28 to Friday, May 2.

“During the whole week you learn a dance from the old girls,” said Heidrich. “You work on that and that’s what you are judged on the last day. You perform it in front of the judges.”

The tryouts only had one cut so the performance at the end of the week is what mattered most during tryouts. The girls had to perform their dance in front of the coach and a panel of judges, who would score their performance.

“The coach has the biggest decision,” said Heidrich. “But she also gets input from the seniors and other team members. The judges’ score also make a difference. But its mostly up to the coach, Elizabeth McKenzie.”

The four girls who made the team this year were Katie Heffren, Becca Holsinger and Piper O’Donnell who are currently 8th graders at Williamsburg Middle School, and Dylan Lee, a freshman. Lee shared her thoughts on the tryout process for the dance team.

“I was a little nervous,” Lee said. “I used to do ballet, so I had gone through the whole audition thing before, but it was definitely a new experience.”

With the tryouts lasting for a full week, people had to be prepared for some vigorous physical activity. Lee emphasized what she felt was the most important part of getting ready.

“Stretching,” Lee said. “I was sore after the first day. We did a lot of stretching there, but I would definitely recommend doing it beforehand also.”

The dance team roster is all set moving forward into next year. As the dancers prepare for their upcoming season in the fall they can rest easy knowing that they won’t have to worry about tryouts for another year.