Royal dance team places 2nd at state
The Official WIAA picture of the Royal Dance team before the girls went out to dance. From left to right, they are Samantha Eilers, Hannah Fanning, Charity Robbins, Hannah Larson, Amanda Conger, Samantha Dela Rosa, Lucia Aguirre, Jacky Guadarrama, Lindsey Small, Lauren Pratt, Ashley Valle, Kailee Harris and Robin Grant.
ROYAL CITY -The Royal High School Dance Team finished its season at the Yakima SunDome last Friday with dance and academic accolades.
Royal's girls finished second among 1A-2A schools in military dance at the WIAA Dance/Drill State Championships. They were also recognized as Academic State Champions.
"It's the first time we've placed at state other than academics," team member and publicist Robin Grant said.
The Royal girls improved their score to a season high 235.95. That was just short of the 240.15 posted by Liberty in first place.
Judges' comments included: "Very sharp, very in sync" and "Fantastic visuals, love the many different levels of action."
Other teams to place in 1A-2A were Elma (230.2), West Valley (Spokane) (222.4), Highline: (221.3), Cedarcrest: (215.5) and Montesano (202.6).
These girls started preparing for this meet last summer, practicing their program over and over and over.
"(Friday) was a long day," Grant said. "We met at the school at about 5:30 a.m., and most girls got home at 1 a.m. the next day."
"I am so proud," Grant added. "I never would've dreamed we would make it this far. So happy and grateful for a team I felt was a second family to me, and I can't believe the season is over."
How the Royal team does next year will likely depend on the commitment new team members make. It is a junior-senior team. So this year's juniors will have to recruit the sophomore class.
"We hope many other girls are recruited and won't let the program die," Grant said.
This team was committed to success. The girls practiced a full week in summer, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. During the school year they went from 6-7:20 a.m. three days a week.
"We had many extra practices," Grant said. "On days that were holidays, we took the time to practice all day on those days. The team even practiced over breaks like Christmas and Thanksgiving."
The Royal dancers held an assembly at school in hopes that other girls would see dance team as fun and exciting and not just the pain of the early mornings.
"I really feel it is how you get along with the team that makes it so strong and powerful," Grant said.