Lake Zurich contest: Varsity 2A
Just 2 days after a Friday night 2A showdown at the Vernon Hills contest, 13 more 2A routines faced-off at Lake Zurich on December 8th. Scores ranged from a high of 84.50 (a stellar pom debut by Rolling Meadows) down to 63.97 with an average of 73.61. The middle score was a 72.13 and the most common score (rounded) was in the 77.51-78.49 range. The fact that 3 routines were around a 78 (or about 4.4 points over the average) suggests this 2A field was pretty solid.
Our snazzy graphic shows that pom and open dance / jazz routines accounted for 9 out of the 13 dances, while the average of the pom routines was significantly above the overall 2A average. Jazz/open dance’s average (71.39) is skewed lower: Lakes came in 2nd overall (81.10) while the other 3 jazz routines reside in the 64 – 72 range. The lone lyrical dance scored a 77.93, and the 3 hip hop routines averaged a 71.56.
While there were an abundance of above-average routines crowded in the upper 70s, the spread among the top 3 is significant: 84.50 to 81.10 to a tie for 77.93. In other words, the drop-off from 1st to 2nd was -3.4, and the interval from 2nd to 3rd was -3.17. The gap from 1st to 3rd was almost 7 points!
3 of the 10 teams brought a 2nd routine, and for these schools, the average of their 6 dances was 73.74 — very close to the overall 2A average. Likewise, the 7 teams who presented a single routine had an average of 73.50, also very near to the 2A mean score. Things are a bit more interesting when you look at the 3 teams who performed twice. 1 of them (Lakes) averaged a 75.95, which is over 2.3 points above the 2A average. The other 2 teams with 2 dances earned average scores of 73.27 and 72.02 — both a bit under the 2A average.
Which routines stand out? No surprise here: Rolling Meadows’ pom and Lakes’ jazz. The rest of the top 5 can probably succeed at sectionals, but these top 2 can definitely hold their own against the very impressive 2A field who danced at Vernon Hills on December 6th. And props go to Crystal Lake South (77.93, t-3rd) who have added a little zest to their pom program, which has clearly been their specialty category over the years.