There’s only been one thing that has held the St. Joseph-Ogden dance team down this season: weather.
“We all know it is winter and we are a winter sport, so we just roll with it,” SJ-O Head Dance Coach Emily Williams said.
After missing the Clinton Dance Competition because of winter weather earlier this season, the Spartans were faced with a more devastating blow when the threat of Winter Storm Harper loomed over East Central Illinois last Saturday.
Like other athletic directors across the state, SJ-O Athletic Director Justin Franzen spent the week on the phone with the IHSA to see if the Sectional Dance Competition would be rescheduled due to the forecast.
When it wasn’t, and the East Central Illinois area expected 4 to 8 inches of snow, the SJ-O administration had to break some hard news to the team.
“As of Friday, Jan., 18, we made an announcement towards the end of school that the dance team would not be able to go to sectionals because of the winter weather warning that had been issued,” Franzen said.
“The SJO administration, Coach Williams, the dance team, and the parents of the dance team met after school at 3:30 p.m. here at the high school to talk about the decision. Mr. Brooks explained the whole process of our decision to everyone.”
The team was devastated at the news.
Williams said that at the beginning of the season, the girls had set the goal of placing in the top six at the IHSA Sectional to advance to the State competition the following weekend. They also wanted to qualify for the Illinois Drill Team Association competition in Springfield on Feb. 8 and 9.
Knowing that the only way to reach their goal was to participate at Mascoutah, the SJO administration kept the possibility of competing in Sectionals open.
“We did say that if for some reason, this storm does not hit us, we would re-evaluate early in the morning,” Brooks continued.
That door of opportunity swung open at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday when Williams and the SJO Administration woke up to see that the storm that was predicted did not hit the area.
“Coach Williams called all 14 of the girls and their parents, and confirmed with everyone that the team was now headed to Mascoutah,” Franzen said.
“It takes great kids and coaches to do what this team did,” he said. “Coach Williams handled this situation as professional as possible. She knew that there was going to be a potential weather issue for Saturday all week last week, and she stayed nothing but positive with the girls.”
Taking the excitement to the dance floor, St. Joseph placed sixth out of 13 teams at the Mascoutah Sectional.
Four teams did not get to compete due to weather-related travel decisions. Overall, 29 schools throughout the State declined to send their teams.
“The emotions have been very high for our team all weekend,” Williams said. “We have five hard-working seniors and they each deserved the chance to go to their IHSA sectional, we are just pleased that it all worked out with the weather.
“We have some amazing dancers on our team and they fully deserve this chance at State!”
The Spartan hip-hop performance will take the stage at 10:33 a.m. Friday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
Williams said the team has gone over how state preliminary competition works for the young dancer who have not been there before. They will practice every night this week to perfect the routine for Friday.
The Spartans will go into the competition with a goal to place in the Top 12, allowing them to advance to the State Finals.
“This is a hard working group of girls who work together and focus on their dancing and making their team better everyday,” Williams said. “We have a wonderful group of seniors and senior captains who have been great leaders for this team thus far. These girls are much more than a team, they are a family
Members of the 2018-2019 St. Joseph-Ogden High School Dance team who will compete at the IHSA Competition are Seniors Erin Beyers, Rachel Gherna, Kaitlyn Hess, Kalli Ingram, and Haley Griebat, Juniors Ava Mills and Sara Milioli, Sophomores Isabelle Brooks, Kylie Duckett, Tessa Smith, Bella Getty, and Samantha Naylor and Freshmen Ella Besson and Alessa Anzelmo.
