Just a week after Nationals, the highly competitive dance team secured first place in Hip-Hop at this years Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Championship, and was held on Feb. 15 at the Heartland Event Center in Grand Island.

The dancers competed against eight other class A schools in both Jazz and Hip-Hop divisions. With prior success at past State and regional competitions, as well as finishing fourth at Nationals, the team was looking for another championship for their Hip-Hop routine.

“The team works very hard practicing over 10 hours every week in addition to their studio practice,” dance team sponsor Deana Hillard said. “Their Hip Hop routine was amazing, and they were very worthy of being named 2019 Nebraska State Champions.”

The girls spent the entire school year working on their two routines to prepare for this event. Along with all the hours put in during the week, they dedicated every day of Winter Break aside from the holidays perfecting these dances for three to four hours.

Millard West started off the day with their Jazz routine at 9:30 a.m on Friday, then finished off their performances with the winning high-energy Hip-Hop routine at 2:30 p.m.  

“I was nervous, sad, and excited going into State,” senior, Ashley Mitchell said. “I always get nervous to perform but once you get out there on the floor all the nerves just go away. I was sad knowing that it was the last time i would ever dancing with this team, but of course I was excited to compete one last time and give it my all.”

In addition to the Hip-Hop title, the team got the third place State trophy for Jazz. This routine has also been successful in past competitions, scoring first at regionals and 12th out of 80+ teams at Nationals.

This state competition wrapped up the 2018-2019 season for the girls. As the four seniors leave, the rest of the team begins to focus on the upcoming year.