Dance and Cheer perform at State competition

By Emma Jordan

The Anderson County cheer and dance teams performed at the KSHSAA state competition at Stormont Vail in Topeka on November 21 and 22. The dance team performed on the 21st, while the cheer team performed on the 22nd. All students were welcome to go and support their cheerleaders. They were able to sign up to take the spirit bus, which left at 7:45 Saturday morning. 

The Crimson Dancers performed their hearts out in hopes of winning. They made the callbacks and won 4th place overall. Sophomore dancer, Avery Thompson, was asked what her reaction was to placing fourth. Thompson said, “They placed us all on the mat, and we held hands while 6th was named and then 5th. When we were named 4th, we started screaming. Emma was so happy she started crying, and we all gave her one big hug.” She was then asked if she felt that everyone gave it their all. She said, “The first time there were some mess-ups, but we gave it our all when we found out we made the callbacks. We gave 110%. We worked our butts off to get to where we were.”

The next day, cheer performed and placed 12th out of 26 teams. Junior cheerleader, Rayna Kuhlman, was asked how she felt before their performance. Kuhlman said, “Before the performance, I was nervous, but I was more excited because of how much work we put into practice.” She was also asked what her reaction was when they placed 12th. She said, “I was surprised when we found out because we had people tell us that we wouldn’t make it to finals, and I was upset because of the amount of hours we put into practicing, but I am ready to see how our team places next year.”

Senior dancers: Kendra Weirich, Jordan Miller, Hope Hill, and Khloe McCarty 

Juniors: Bree Schafer, Bystol Barnes, and Emma Thieme

Sophomores: Maliah Velick, Lily Kent, Avery Thopmson, and Aspyn Richardson

Freshmen: Kora Gains 

Coaches: Renee Duke and Ally Duke 

Senior cheerleaders: Brittney Hurt and Lyndsie Carey

Juniors: Rayna Kuhlman, Maci Keith, Kayla Harvey, Adrianne Fennema, Madilyn Reichard, Alice Tucker, and Romi Korten 

Sophomores: Jaelyn Leyser and Kaylee Kummer

Freshmen: Kaylee Feuerborn

Coaches: Baylee Blaufuss and Bailey Ratliff