Kicking off the season off hot with a 3rd place finish at Andrew, the Minooka varsity dance team headed to Oswego for the second competition of the season.
They finished 4th and 6th. With two top five place finishes to start the season, the girls hope to continue the success throughout the rest of the season.
All of the girls are dedicated to their craft and pushing for the success that they have had and is yet to come.
“Practicing at least three days a week since competition season started, we really pay attention to detail, and make sure that everything we’re doing has a purpose behind it,” senior dancer Megan Belli said.
Setting this team apart from others is not only their drive of hard work and dedication, but also the countless hours that they are putting into everything they do, mastering it. When spending all of this time together there’s bonds being formed bringing the team together.
“This team is coming together and seeing that their hard work is making a difference. I believe that is helping to build a strong work ethic and they are finding their drive. They are also incredibly supportive of each other,” head coach Kerri Elkei said.
Even overcoming their own expectations while facing very good competition including St. Charles East who finished 1st and 2nd in this competition.
“I was really happy with the result of 4th. I was expecting to get around 7th or 8th place so getting 4th was really great,” junior dancer Brooke Wikoff said.
With this only being the second competition of the season with several juniors on the team, there is plenty of room for improvement for this group. One of the greatest challenges is turning into one big unit almost to be able to dance as one.
“The challenge was being in the same mental place as a team. Being together as a team helps us dance cohesively, so we all have to be in the same head space which can get hard with nerves,” Wikoff said.
Finishing out the rest of the season, the team must compete better and better every day to reach their goal,
“(Our goal) is to make day two of state, but our top goal is to make top 10 in state,” Belli said.
For this group making it to day two seems more than reachable for this group. This Oswego Invitational is just an early start for the future and hopefully hinting at future success.
“I am incredibly proud of this group. Adjusting to a new coach is not always easy and they are doing a great job with everything I am giving them and asking of them,” Elkei said.
