Last year’s champs a year later
How Highland, Lake Zurich, and York followed up their 2018 state titles
by Norm Ramil / 8ca.music.person & dance.fan
Repeats are a hard business. Once you hoist the trophy, you’re everyone’s goal to beat, a byproduct of awesomeness. Seniors leave and other teams get better, so nothing’s automatic.
That being said, it’s pretty sweet being champions. Here’s a look at how three state-winning teams followed up their incredible accomplishment of a year ago.
1A Highland
I never get tired of explaining to dance fans in the Chicago area where Highland is. This program is no stranger to state titles, whether it’s IHSA, IDTA, or TDI. A year ago, Highland Dance alum Emily Wellen was wrapping up her coaching career with college graduation just a couple months away. Before putting on her cap and gown she got to hold up another state 1st place trophy with her exceptionally gifted 2018 team.
The transition to new coaches was seamless. Erin Cotto had led the district’s high-achieving Highland Middle School dance team, not only coaching them to IDTA state titles but also having worked with junior high dancers that are now her varsity team. Alongside new assistant coach Carrie Eilerman, Cotto has a Highland team that’s thriving.
I got to visit Highland over the summer and you could absolutely see the seeds of greatness setting in, but I wasn’t yet totally sure what the team could do in January. But I liked how Highland didn’t seem to walk around weighed by the status of being state champs or having a new coach; it was just a nice group of dancers having a fun summer of dance and working on advanced turns.
My next look at the competitive team was at the IHSA / IDTA competition at Belleville East in December. That’s when it started to feel real: this team could easily repeat, even with all-new coaches.
On that rainy Saturday in December, Highland danced all 3 of their routines in IDTA (pom dance, lyrical, and jazz) and also performed their lyrical for the IHSA rubric, taking 1st place in the IHSA category. I then saw Highland again, this time at the IHSA / IDTA comp at Edwardsville 3 weeks ago. They looked fantastic once again but switched things up and performed their jazz routine for the IHSA category, again taking 1st.
The word that comes to mind when I think of both dances is polish. They have that extra something that clearly sets them apart from other 1A teams…and actually, most 2A and 3A teams…in the entire state.
The team danced into the state field with their sectional win at Mascoutah last Saturday, earning an 89.00 (3rd highest in 1A across the state) and ranking second overall in terms of Z-Scores.
Senior captain Brooke writes, “So far our season has been going really well! At practice we’ve been drilling turns, formations, and cleaning up a few last sections in preparation for IHSA.”
“I’m so excited for state this weekend and to see how our team performs, as well as the other teams who made it to state!”
Coach Carrie adds, “We are really focusing on ourselves and what we can do as a team. We know there is going to be a lot of competition at state, so we are honing in on the details and what sets our team apart. We have a very young team, so getting their minds set and ready for this weekend is huge.”
“As coaches we are just preparing the girls as much as we can, making sure they are confident when they take the floor, and knowing that they did their best when they come off.”
“We have seen so much improvement this season so far, and the girls keep on surprising us every day with their work ethic.”
2A Lake Zurich
Before last season, my attachment to the Lake Zurich program was being their music editor for a few very successful seasons in the mid-2000s, including an IDTA state kick championship.
I got to know the modern day version of LZ Poms last winter on their way to the 2018 2A championship. Their hip hop routine was a legit crowd fave. It looked stellar on the comp floor (whether it was basketball floors or marley underneath their feet), and it looked crazy good up close at practice.
Last year’s dance seemed like a fun party, the kind you’d invite yourself to at all costs because it’s such a spectacle. This year’s hip hop routine is a different shade of the Lake Zurich hip hop style, and it’s just as potent in terms of win-ability.
Coaches Teri Johlie and Melanie Canderlaria are a fun pair to watch, each with different strengths and ways of cleaning a dance. I first got to hang out with this. year’s team on a very chilly game night back in October, the season’s first blast of cold actually requiring winter jackets. The dancers had an exuberant, bubbly vibe that came across whether they were doing sidelines or warming up in their dance room with an extended routine to Macklemore’s “Downtown.”
I first saw this year’s dance at the Mundelein comp back on November 18. The whole gym pretty much had been waiting all day to see it, and LZ didn’t disappoint. We got to see them again at Warren where they ran up against a stacked 2A field (including Geneva), and it started to look like a real battle if Lake Zurich was going to repeat.
Lake Zurich next fought to a 3rd place conference ranking on January 10th behind Lake Forest and Stevenson. And then they unleashed a tweaked routine and updated costumes at sectionals, winning 1st in 2A by nearly 2 points. LZ earned the 7th-highest 2A score of the day across the state, and are ranked 4th among Z-Scores in 2A. They’re the very definition of a team peaking at the right time.
Whatever happened between late December and mid-January was probably a nice blend of hard work, willingness to change and clean, and smart coaching. No matter how this weekend turns out, you can be sure that LZ fought hard to rise up when it counted.
Senior Kelly writes that they’re “super excited to have the opportunity to compete at state again. We are looking to put forth our best routine possible and have fun doing it!”
3A York
The top of the Illinois competitive dance world is an elite place, like the cool table at lunch except harder to get to and much more glorious. We all know the names that tend to find their way to the top in 3A, so York was a thrilling newcomer to that select group of champions last January.
Now to be fair, York’s been around. I was briefly their music editor one season back in the 2000s when they’d consider themselves lucky to even just make it to IDTA supersectionals. And then came a breakthrough moment at IHSA sectionals in 2014. I was sitting in the bleachers at Glenbrook South when York danced their way into the state field, and text messages flew throughout 3A trying to figure out who they were.
Since then it’s been steady growth. I was lucky enough to visit the 2016-17 team at practice and met Coach Kristen Baron. I got to know her philosophy and coaching style and was way, way impressed. I didn’t quite know it at the time, but they were well on there way to building toward a thunderous state win on January 27, 2018.
Fast forward to this year, and where they are right now is quite a feat. Last year’s assistant, Alyssa Ortiz, was elevated to the head position after Coach Baron’s departure, but the program continued to rock it all season. Last year’s choreographer, Lauren Caputo, came on as the new assistant (and also is a certified judge and one of our very own 8CA teachers / choreographers). On the strength of those pillars, York’s quietly put themselves in a position to fight for a second consecutive 3A trophy.
I spent the late fall waiting to see the York Varsity dance while JV made frequent appearances on the comp floor. My chance came at the December 8th Waubonsie Valley comp, and it was as stellar as expected. Even having lost a chunk of senior leadership to graduation, the York Dance Team showed that they had more than enough talent to get back to Day 2 in Bloomington and maybe repeat as champs.
I next saw the team at practice over winter break making smart changes to their choreo based on feedback from the judges. It was so cool watching new ideas blossom, but not automatically and only with hard work. Their crisply executed combos helped them earn the win at the conference comp on 1/13. The York dancers then brought that momentum forward for the sectional win at Warren last Saturday. York’s dancers got the 3rd-highest 3A score in the state at sectionals along with the leading Z-Score in 3A.
Coach Caputo writes, “This season of IHSA dance we have seen the talent and difficulty grow tremendously. We are heading into state among so many talented and creative teams. We have hopes to defend our title and prove to not only the state but ourselves that we still have what it takes to be one of the best teams in Illinois.”
Senior captain Bella adds, “Nothing can break down the motivation and dedication of this team. Every day we come into practice pushing ourselves harder and harder to defend our state title.”
Emily, a junior captain, tells me that “our work ethic and dedication to the team is unstoppable. Especially this year, with our jazz routine, our mindset is to stand out and put the best performance we can out there, in hopes to defend our title.”
On a personal note, it’s pretty cool to look back on how teams approached their season, instead of just fixating on what happened last Saturday and what could happen this weekend. Even better: stepping back a year or two to see how championship teams emerge. It’s a long season and an even longer process. Looking at last year’s champions makes you wonder if hoisting a trophy is the end of the tale, or is it that the story’s always being written?
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