Competition Blog Archives

Stats, insights, and analysis of the 2012-13 competition season in Illinois

IHSA Fremd 11/17/12

With no categories in IHSA Dance, comparing routines can be at best difficult and at worst impossible. That’s just one of the reasons why we’re launching 8 Count Audio’s newest blog column: to make sense out of this whole new IHSA world. Let’s start with how things went down at Fremd on November 17th.

In Varsity 3A, 23 different teams performed 29 dances. We thought it would be interesting to see which TDI or IDTA category each of these 29 routines would be classified as. Sticking with the familiar categories of pom, lyrical, dance, hip hop, and kick, the numbers show that the distribution of routines in each category was far from even.

Pom routines (and pom dance) were by far the most popular choice that afternoon, with 11 of them performed. Dance / jazz routines were the next most popular 3A category — we counted 6. Hip hop and lyrical each had 5 routines. Only 2 routines were in the kick category.

So in terms of percentages, 37.9% were pom, 20.7% were dance, 17.2% were hip hop, 17.2% were lyrical, and 6.9% were kick.

The most intriguing stat is that none of the top 3 routines were pom or dance. In other words, the two most popular categories that afternoon (17 routines or 58.6% of Varsity 3A) were completely outside of the top 3!

Instead, the top 3 came from hip hop (Warren and Lake Zurich 2) and lyrical (Stevenson 1), with Warren’s hip hop taking top honors. The numbers show another eye-opener: 2 of the 5 hip hop routines ended up in the top 3 of Varsity 3A (40% of the category made up 66.7% of the top 3).

2A at Fremd and Vernon Hills

Varsity 2A Trends So Far:

Back on November 17th at Fremd, 8 different teams performed 10 routines in Varsity 2A. This isn’t a huge sample size, so it’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions. Still, it’s interesting to note that there were 4 pom (or pom dance) routines, and 2 each in dance, hip hop, and kick. The top 3 showed some nice variety, coming from 3 different dance styles (1 each from pom, dance, and kick). On the other hand, this meant that 3 out of the 4 pom routines in 2A that day didn’t make it into the top 3. Another way of looking at it is this: 75% of the Varsity 2A pom routines placed between 4th and 10th.

This past Sunday at Vernon Hills showed a very similar trend. 10 teams brought 11 routines that afternoon for Varsity 2A. Again, the judges got to evaluate 4 pom routines and 2 dance routines, but also 4 in kick and a lone hip hop performance. Another wrinkle was that 4 of these Varsity 2A teams competed at both Fremd and Vernon Hills on consecutive Sundays, and all of them performed the same routines at both competitions. So it’s fair to say that there was some continuity from the past weekend at Fremd, balanced against 6 new routines. Despite this mix of “new” and “old,” the top 3 routines at Fremd and Vernon Hills were identical (albeit in a different order).

It’s still a relatively young season, and we’re only looking at 2 competitions–both in the Northwest suburbs and featuring some of the same teams at both invitationals. But the early trends are pretty clear: the most popular categories in Varsity 2A at these competitions has been pom (about 38% of all Varsity 2A routines) and kick (28.6%). Together, they’ve made up 2/3 of all Varsity 2A routines at these two competitions.

Vernon Hills (dance and pom) and Deerfield (kick) have been pretty stellar early on, sweeping the top 3 at Fremd and Vernon Hills. It should be interesting to see routines that debuted this past weekend steadily improve to soon make a run at the very talented Vernon Hills and Deerfield teams. With no categories to subdivide 2A, traditional powerhouses like Wauconda, Lakes, and Crystal Lake South will have to work hard to share the spotlight over the next couple months.

Stagg

This time we’ll take a closer look at the routines at Stagg’s IHSA competition this past Saturday.

2A at Stagg
In varsity 2A, 12 teams brought 15 different routines. The most popular categories by far were pom and hip hop (5 routines each). Dance/jazz appeared 3 times, while there was 1 lyrical and 1 kick routine. This means that two-thirds of all 2A routines were either pom or hip hop. Of the 3 teams who performed more than 1 routine, all of them had at least a pom or hip hop routine. The specific combinations were hip hop and dance (Grant), pom and kick (Oak Forest), and pom and hip hop (Bremen).

Hip hop took 1st and 2nd (Eisenhower and Lincoln Way West), and Wauconda’s great dance routine placed 3rd. This left all 5 pom routines out of the top 3, although the hip hop routines were very strong and really did deserve to score high. But both of Grant’s performances — one in hip hop, the other in dance — were very sharp, and could have been in the top 3. The other 2A teams up north really need to watch out for Eisenhower’s and Lincoln Way West’s hip hop routines, along with continuing to have to worry about the talent at Wauconda and Grant.

3A at Stagg
A huge varsity 3A field took the floor at Stagg: 20 teams, 30 routines. With this much talent and the cross-category format, some great routines would end up trophy-less at the end of the afternoon. The pom and hip hop representation closely mirrored what happened in 2A — 60% of the dances came from these categories (specifically, 12 pom routines and 6 hip hop). Another third of the 3A dances were either lyrical or dance (5 each). 2 kick routines rounded out the 3A field.

The top 4 was led by 2 pom routines, followed by a lyrical and dance, and leaving out the 6 hip hop dances. With such a big group of teams, categories would be helpful in recognizing and announcing well-deserving teams at awards. This would allow great routines by Mundelein (lyrical), St. Charles North (lyrical), and Minooka (hip hop) to share the spotlight.

Shout-Outs
Thanks go out to Mundelein for another beautiful performance of their lyrical dance. With a little help from the Soundhound app, we discovered that the hauntingly ethereal song is “Both Hands” by Jay Brannan from the singer-songwriter’s 2010 album In Living Cover. The song originally is by Ani DiFranco, released back in 1990. A few sound effects, tame and bold at the same time, really enhance the song and choreography. And if any team is looking for examples of what lyrical facials should look like, this is the routine to watch. Every girl looks like she actually wrote the song, telling a story of desperately trying to hold on to something that can’t be held. Here’s a great example of why IHSA should offer an artistic award of the day.

Thanks also to Plainfield North for making a daring music choice that actually works really well: “Wires” by Matt & Kim, for kick. Most kick routines are either chock full of “hands in the air” club beats or something dramatically orchestral from a movie score. “Wires” is neither of these, but there’s enough of an indie beat and complex percussion in the right spots to support a kick routine. This team’s choice to think outside of the box might just lead to a bright future for kick routines overall.

Sears Centre

8 Count Audio wants to make sure the dance community recognizes all the effort you put into your routine. Beginning with the Sears Center competition, we are happy to announce the top ranking teams in each style of dance. For this post, we’ll focus on varsity 3A, where 32 teams each had 1 performance last Saturday afternoon (12/22).

3A POM
1) Downers Grove South
2) Neuqua Valley
3) South Elgin

The 14 pom routines (easily the most popular category on this day) ranged from 4th to 32nd overall. They were roughly equally distributed across the entire range of rankings, but with a notable cluster of 6 pom routines that ended up in the bottom 9. The average score was 53.9, and the 14 pom routines had an average rank of 18.1. Also interesting was the top pom finisher, Neuqua Valley, who came in 4th overall. According to our notes, this may have been a new routine for the team this competition season; if so, this was an extremely strong debut.

3A DANCE
1) Downers Grove North
2) Glenbrook South
3) Barrington

The jazz/dance routines — 7 of them — ranged from 3rd to 29th. And 6 of the 7 routines finished in the upper half of the 32-team field, which suggests that pretty much every dance routine achieved higher than an average score. The actual average confirms this: 67.0. The average rank was an impressive 11.7. If you take out the lowest dance routine, the average rank jumps up to 8.8, and the average score moves up to 70.0.

3A HIP HOP
1) Niles West
2) Lake Park
3) Mundelein

9 teams decided to bring their hip hop routine, and their placements went from a low of 30th to a high of 7th. This makes hip hop the 2nd-most popular type of routine in 3A at this competition, though of all categories, it had the lowest high placement (7th). The average rank was 20.6, and the average score was 57.1. An interesting feature of this score spread is that while the highest was only 7th place, the next highest was 16th, followed by a big cluster of 5 teams stuck between 19th and 23rd.

3A LYRICAL
1) Stevenson
2) Libertyville

Only 2 teams opted for lyrical, and both scored in the top 6. This makes the average rank 3.5. The average score was a stellar 83.7, obviously skewed by Stevenson’s whopping 93.2.

OVERALL
Scores ranged from a low of 40.3 to a high of 93.2. Across the entire 32-team 3A field, the biggest difference between consecutive scores was from 1st to 2nd: 12.6 points. Every other pair of scores on down the list had a smaller margin of difference. This highlights just how dominant the Stevenson lyrical performance really was. Finally, the overall average score was 62.0, with 15 of the 32 routines coming in above that score.

Sears Centre Part 2

Here’s another way to look at the numbers from the Dec. 22 competition. Notice the huge interval between 1st and 2nd place–it’s the largest gap between consecutive teams anywhere on the chart! Also note how high both lyrical routines placed, as well as how almost all the dance routines are in the upper 50% of the varsity 3A field. And then there’s that clump of hip hop routines that scored in the 50s…

Conflicting Competitions

3A Teams at Competing Competitions

Both Wheaton Warrenville South and Vernon Hills hosted competitions this past Sunday, with one judged by TDI (WWS) and the other by IHSA (VH). We thought it would be interesting to compare the 3A teams who performed at these competitions and then zoom in for a closer look at lyrical.

At Vernon Hills (IHSA), there were 24 performances by 15 teams. If we divide them by unofficial categories, 6 of them were pom / open pom (25%), 6 were dance (25%), and hip hop, lyrical, and kick each had 4 routines (16.7%). So in 3A, exactly half of the routines were some kind of pom, open pom, or dance/jazz routine.

Over at Wheaton Warrenville South (TDI), 9 teams offered 13 performances. 5 were in pom / open pom (38.4%), 3 were in dance (23%), kick and hip hop each had 2 (15.4%), and there was a lone lyrical routine (7.7%).

Comparing both competitions shows that the ratios of dance styles were roughly similar but for 2 exceptions. By percentage, more TDI teams went with a pom routine than the IHSA teams that afternoon. But what really sticks out is the 1 lyrical routine at Wheaton Warrenville South compared to the 4 that IHSA judges saw at Vernon Hills.

What about last year’s Wheaton Warrenville South invitational? Granted, it took place on a different weekend (12/11/11), but we noticed that 5 teams in 3A who were there last year instead chose to dance at Vernon Hills this year. It might be reasonable to assume that those 5 teams would’ve competed at WWS had there been no IHSA Vernon Hills invitational to go to.

But did those 5 teams tip the balance in lyrical? It’s possible. Last year at WWS, judges saw 4 lyrical performances from the bigger schools (3A and 4A), versus just 1 there this past Sunday. This year, 3 of those 4 lyrical teams instead brought their lyrical dances to Vernon Hills for IHSA judges.

Did it pay off, then, for the 3A lyrical teams to head to Vernon Hills instead of Wheaton Warrenville South? Yes, for Stevenson: they took 1st place with their lyrical routine based on inspirational clips from the 2004 hockey movie Miracle. But geographically speaking, they would have probably competed at Vernon Hills anyway, instead of heading to WWS. That leaves 3 other lyrical routines at Vernon Hills / IHSA, all of which ended up outside the top 3. And 2 of those teams danced lyrical at WWS last year.

So it turns out that they might’ve had a statistically better shot at trophies by heading to WWS instead of VH. But the real draw was probably the chance to compete their lyrical dances against Stevenson’s, and that’s why we saw 80% of Sunday’s 3A lyrical routines occur at Vernon Hills / IHSA, instead of a more even split with WWS.

It brings up the question, what’s worth more: fewer opponents and a higher chance at placing, or going head-to-head with the most formidable rival out there? This isn’t a new issue, since same-day competitions have been scheduled for years. The twist this time is that you’re not only choosing who to go up against, but also deciding between rubrics, judges, and category / no-category, among other factors.

The only thing we’re sure about is that there are no clear, easy answers in this groundbreaking dance season.

Mundelein

MUNDELEIN BY THE NUMBERS

11 teams brought 15 routines to compete in the varsity 3A division at Mundelein’s dance invitational.

Here’s the official breakdown:

Official Top 3:
1st: Warren
2nd: Libertyville 2
3rd: Mundelein 2

And now for 8 Count Audio’s analysis:

Overall, scores ranged from a high of 96.7 to a low of 30.6, and the average score was 67.1. The bar graph below shows pretty dramatically that the biggest interval between consecutive scoring routines was between 1st and 2nd, just like the last competition at Sears Centre! In other words, it was the second consecutive competition in which the judges saw the overall winner as far superior to the rest of the routines.

Our unofficial category winners:

3A POM
1st: Libertyville
2nd: Bartlett
3rd: Hoffman Estates

Judges evaluated 4 pom / pom dance routines on Sunday, which, along with dance, was the 2nd-most popular category. These routines placed anywhere from 5th down to 15th, with scores ranging from 75.4 to 30.6. This gives us an average of 55.7 for the pom category, but if you take out the lowest score, the median pops up to 64.0. With or without that low score, pom had the lowest average score versus other categories. Of all categories (not including kick and lyrical, which each had just 1 entry), pom had the lowest high score for a category: 75.4, good for 5th place. The average placement was 10.75.

3A DANCE
1st: Libertyville
2nd: Barrington
3rd: Larkin

4 jazz / dance routines appeared on the floor at Mundelein, which ties with pom for the 2nd-most popular category. The highest score was 83.9 (2nd overall), while the lowest was 58.8 (11th overall). The average score for dance routines was 72.0, and these teams earned an average placement of 6.75.

3A HIP HOP
1st: Warren
2nd: Bartlett
3rd: Lake Park

Hip Hop was the most popular category with 5 routines, which is the first time that judges have seen more hip hop routines in 3A than at any other IHSA competition this season. This didn’t translate into a higher category average, however. Scores ranged from the overall winner (Warren’s 96.7) down to 50.1 (13th place). The average Hip Hop score was 68.8, and the average rank was 8th place. However, if you take away Warren’s impressive score, the average dips to just 61.8! For more evidence of the “Warren effect,” check this out: if you drop Warren, hip hop becomes the category with the lowest-scoring winner (72.4), instead of pom (75.4).

3A LYRICAL
1st: Mundelein

This well-deserving routine (which we’ve raved about in previous posts) finally cracked the top 3 for a trophy, earning 80.0 points for 3rd place overall.

3A KICK
1st: McHenry

With sharpness and plenty of energy, this kick routine came in 7th (71.9) points.

One last nugget: this was the second consecutive competition where the judges sat at floor-level. It’s way too early to spot a trend here, but that view must make it challenging to really see formations, which are especially important in pom routines. At both Mundelein and Sears Centre (both judged from floor level), pom came in with the lowest average score versus other categories.

(Note: this graphic only includes varsity 3A teams)

Mundelein 2A

Time to check up on the 2A varsity performances from the Mundelein competition (1/6/13).

Here’s the official 2A breakdown:

Top 3:
1st: Lake Forest 2
2nd: Lake Forest 1
3rd: Crystal Lake Central

And now for 8 Count Audio’s analysis:

12 teams brought 16 routines in 2A. The scores ranged from 38.1 up to 94.6, with an average score of 64.6. Unlike what we saw with varsity 3A at Sears Centre and Mundelein, the biggest drop-off wasn’t from 1st to 2nd. Instead, the largest interval was between 13th and 14th: a gap of 13.6 points. In fact, this gap separated scores in the 50s from scores in the 30s.

Our unofficial category winners:

2A POM
1st: Lake Forest
2nd: Crystal Lake Central
3rd: Vernon Hills

With 6 routines, the 2A Pom category took the floor more often than all other categories. Scores varied wildly from a high of 94.6 (the overall 2A winner) to 39.8. The average pom score was 67.1, but if you exclude the bottom score (which was in the 30s, with the next highest pom score coming in the 50s), the average becomes 72.6. The median rank was 8th place. Interestingly, only 2 pom routines (Lake Forest, Crystal Lake Central) came in above the overall 2A average.

2A DANCE
1st: Lake Forest
2nd: Vernon Hills

Judges got to see just 2 dance / jazz routines on Sunday, with Lake Forest taking the overall 2nd place ranking in 2A, and Vernon Hills coming in 4th. Their average score was a hefty 83.0, with an easy-to-calculate-without-a-calculator average rank of 3rd. Both of these routines came in well above the overall 2A average. It would’ve been cool to see how the other notable 2A dance routines from Wauconda and Grant would’ve stacked up against Lake Forest and Vernon Hills, especially since all four of these dance routines would have probably scored above the 2A overall median.

2A HIP HOP
1st: Grant
2nd: Lakes
3rd: Belvidere North

These were the only 3 hip hop routines in 2A at Mundelein, with scores ranging widely (72.2, 54.5, and 38.1). The same goes for overall placements (5th, 12th, and a tie for 15th). This gives us an average score of 55.0 and a median rank of 10.7. While kick had a lower maximum ranking than hip hop (6th versus 5th), hip hop had the lower median score (55.0 compared to kick’s 60.0). Grant’s performance is notable for beating out strong 2A routines from Deerfield (kick) and Vernon Hills (pom), both of which had scored highly before the Mundelein competition.

2A KICK
1st: Lakes
2nd: Deerfield
3rd: Carmel

A whopping 5 kick routines appeared before the judges, earning an average score of 60.0 and an average rank of 9.8. The range was pretty wide, stretching from a high of 71.4 to a low of 38.1. This high, however, was the lowest maximum score for any category (though as we mentioned in the hip hop section above, kick earned a higher average score than hip hop did). 3 of the 5 routines came in above the 2A overall average of 64.6, but these 3 were grouped in the 67.3 – 71.4 range. Still, besides dance, this makes kick the category with the highest percentage of teams scoring above the 2A average (60%).

Visual thinker? Here you go:

Notice the 2 large gaps from 3rd place to 5th, and again from 13th through the tie for 15th. Also check out the clumps of pom and kick routines in the middle. With only 2 performances on that day, it’s not easy to judge what’s happening with dance / jazz routines, but for 2A at Mundelein, the strongest pom routines easily beat out the best kick performances. When you throw in the dance category factor, it starts to look like hip hop and kick have an uphill battle on their hands.

Fox Valley Conference Championship

Fox Valley Conference Championship Stats

First thing’s first. Having a competition on a Wednesday afternoon is weird. It somehow manages to be stranger than the Friday night invitational at Stevenson on December 2nd!

Conferences championships can give us some insight into what happens when teams compete not only cross-category, but also cross-division.

Crystal Lake Central (2A, pom) won the Fox Division of the Fox Valley Conference, while Crystal Lake South (2A, kick) took top honors for the Valley Division. That pretty much covers it in terms of trophies, but since 1A, 2A, and 3A teams went head-to-head, we can look for even more meaning in the stats.

If we lump all 14 conference teams together, we get a range of 80.3 to 27.3 — pretty low, overall, especially compared to other competitions this season. The average score was 49.6, and just 5 of the 14 teams came out above this mark. The top 3 are a little surprising, considering the division champions: Crystal Lake Central takes 1st, but it was Grayslake North in 2nd (73.8) and then division winner Crystal Lake Central in 3rd (72.2). Jacobs (72.0) and Grayslake Central (60.7) rounded out the top 5. The rest of the 14-team field skipped the 50s altogether and scored between 44.5 and 27.3, all below the overall mean score of 49.6.

Category-wise, pom was the majority of what we saw Wednesday night at Huntley, by almost a 2 to 1 margin. Besides these 9 routines, judges saw 2 routines each of kick and hip hop, and 1 dance/jazz routine. Because of these numbers, we’re only going to look at the average score in pom, which was 49.2 for 9 routines.

In terms of IHSA class, judges evaluated 2 schools in 1A, 8 teams in 2A, and another 4 in 3A. The 1A schools scored an average of 34.1, while the 3A teams recorded an average of 49 points, compared to 53.7 for 2A teams. Another sign of 2A’s domination is that 4 of their 8 schools scored above the overall average (49.6), but just 1 school in 3A came above that mark (Jacobs, whose hip hop routine unofficially won 3A and came in 4th overall). This is even more remarkable since the overall bottom two scores came from 2A teams, which didn’t seem to put to much of a dent in the 2A average, while the lowest 3A team came in a respectable 10th place.

Here’s a visual snapshot of all 14 conference teams compared with one another. Note the range of the top 5 versus the range for teams ranked 6th – 14th. You can also see that pom routines dominated the evening and were evenly distributed across the scoring spectrum.

Now for our unofficial category winners:

1A Pom:
1st: Johnsburg

2A Pom:
1st: Crystal Lake Central
2nd: Grayslake North
3rd: Grayslake Central

3A Pom:
1st: Huntley

Overall Pom:
1st: Crystal Lake Central
2nd: Grayslake North
3rd: Grayslake Central

3A Dance:
1st: Dundee Crown

2A Kick:
1st: Crystal Lake South

3A Kick:
1st: McHenry

Overall Kick:
1st: Crystal Lake South
2nd: McHenry

And what if this invitational gave out traditional IHSA class trophies (where categories are nonexistent)? Here you go:

1A
1st: Johnsburg (pom)
2nd: Woodstock North (pom)

2A:
1st: Crystal Lake Central (pom)
2nd: Grayslake North (pom)
3rd: Crystal Lake South (kick)

3A:
1st: Jacobs (hip hop)
2nd: Huntley (pom)
3rd: McHenry (kick)

Now let’s look at the score comparisons for 2A and 3A:

Can we draw any broad conclusions? We’ll give it a shot:

1) Either the conference is generally weaker, or all of these scores were abnormally low; the truth is probably a combination of the two. Most, if not all conferences, would probably show a huge variety of scores, especially since it’s rare for any conference to have all of its member schools active and experienced in competitive dance. It’s also likely that the whole field (or at least the upper tier of teams) was underscored in this event’s format of no IHSA divisions (on top of no categories, of course).

2) Crystal Lake Central was the clear winner, no matter which ranking system you use.

3) Watch out for Jacobs in 3A. With Jacobs, the 3A average was 49. Without them? 41.3. And this is with the entire field probably being underscored.

Sectionals Preview

When you take the floor at IHSA sectionals tomorrow, are you competing against familiar opponents, or teams you haven’t seen yet?

75 teams have competed so far this season in TDI, and just 16 of them are not listed in IHSA’s state tournament. The other 59 are slated to take the floor this Saturday at dance sectionals around the state. But if you’re an IHSA team that hasn’t had a chance to compete in TDI (or worse, has been prohibited from anything outside of IHSA by your athletic director or principal), will a TDI team take you by surprise at IHSA sectionals?

Looking at each sectional, we can divide the field into 3 basic categories. First, there are the teams you’ve seen all season long in IHSA–we’ll call them the “IHSA regulars.” They’ve competed in at least 2 different IHSA events (according to our admittedly incomplete records). Maybe they weren’t at your competitions, maybe they were. The point is that they’ve got experience with IHSA judges and rules.

The second group have appeared in less than 2 IHSA events (that we know of). These teams, therefore, could be considered to be wild cards or x-factors because you haven’t seen them that often–or at all–at IHSA events. But to get into this category, these teams have either dabbled in IHSA (and nothing else), or spent a lot of time competing in TDI this season. In other words, these teams don’t have a ton of IHSA experience, but definitely have danced in front of judges this season, and probably in TDI.

The final group includes teams that don’t seem to have competed in IHSA or TDI this season. They may have been busy in UDA, or maybe just saving their stuff for IHSA sectionals. Or, they’re complete newcomers to competitive dance in 2012-13 and hope to make a splash at sectionals, either just to get their feet wet or because they’re dance programs that have been active in recent years but are now in rebuilding mode.

Starting with Palatine 2A, you can see that among 14 teams, it’s pretty balanced among the 3 categories we came up with. So for those 4 teams with lots of IHSA experience, there’s some uncertainty when it comes to facing those 4 teams in the 2nd category — 2 of which have spent time in TDI this season (Batavia and Argo, ). If you’re a 2A team at Palatine trying to predict the top 6, you should probably automatically make room for Argo and Batavia, based on historical performance. The top 6 could be the 4 IHSA teams plus these 2 TDI teams.

For the 15 3A-1 teams at Palatine, 7 have lots of IHSA time under their belts. In the 2nd category are 4 teams, none of which have spent time in TDI this season. But one of them is powerhouse Maine South.

The 16 teams in 3A-2 at Palatine will enjoy a lot more predictability when it comes to outside teams: 15 of them are experienced in IHSA. The 1 team in our second group is St. Charles East, a TDI regular and historically high scorer. So, the 3A-2 field shouldn’t face more than 1 surprise, but on the other hand, will have to battle it out against opponents they’ve seen all season long. It’s arguably the strongest group of teams in the whole tournament, and it’s a shame that just 6 of these 16 will head downstate.

16 2A teams will compete at Grayslake North, and all of them have IHSA experience and are pretty familiar with each other. The 3A teams (15 of them) have just a hint of drama to deal with, as 2 of them lack much time in front of IHSA judges. 1 of these 2 is a TDI regular, and both are established dance programs that could get into the top 6. Overall, Grayslake North is by far the most IHSA-experienced field of teams this weekend.

Andrew 2A features at 15-team field that’s overflowing with uncertainty. 7 are IHSA regulars, but 6 more have limited IHSA experience. This second group has 4 teams that are active in TDI, and all are established dance programs. The 3A field is a little more stable with 10 IHSA teams and just 1 TDI team. But of the 3 with no competition experience this season, 2 are well-established dance teams.

The Fieldcrest teams are harder to estimate because so many of them compete outside of the Chicago area, yet a good chunk of the field are suburban teams. We haven’t seen many (if any) of their performances, and there’s a decent chance they’ve been to IHSA competitions we don’t know about. In 2A, one of the teams in the 3rd group (no known competitions this season) is dance powerhouse Morris. Based on history, it’s reasonable to assume that they’re easily capable of being in the top 6.

Plenty of Chicago-area teams will dance in the 3A field at Fieldcrest. A clear majority of these teams (the blue pie slice) have not competed in many IHSA events, but most of them have danced in front of TDI judges all season. We can’t wait to see what IHSA judges think of this group of 8 teams, and how many of the IHSA regulars get in to the top 6 for 3A at Fieldcrest!

Sectional Wrap-Up

IHSA Dance Sectional Wrap-Up

30 teams in 3A and 31 from 2A qualified for IHSA state on Saturday at 5 sectionals across Illinois. For space, we’re just focusing on 2A and 3A for now. Here’s some number-crunching to chew on:

SectionalPointsPart1
Looking at the overall average of a group of teams at a sectional gives us a rough snapshot of their overall performance. These averages ranged from a low of 53.31 points (the 15 2A teams at Andrew) to a high of 78.87 (the 15 3A teams at Grayslake North).

Since averages can be skewed by really low scores–often by inexperienced teams whose first competition was at sectionals–we can look at the average of the top 6, or the state qualifiers. The strongest set of state qualifiers came out of the 3A field at Grayslake North, where they earned an average of 89.93 points. Next best belongs to the 2A teams in the morning session at that sectional, who scored an average of 85.64 points. In 3rd place were the 3A qualifiers at Fieldcrest (where the average was 84.52).

We can also look at strength according to the lowest score in the top 6, or in other words, the weakest state qualifier. 6th place at Grayslake North’s 3A sectional (Mundelein / lyrical) earned an 84.80, by far the highest 6th place score anywhere on Saturday. Another way to look at it: the weakest 3A qualifier at this sectional scored higher than 19 qualifiers from other 3A sectionals. That was a pretty tough sectional, to say the least.

That brings us to the downside of Saturday’s first-ever IHSA dance sectionals.

We’re all used to the familiar and sensible route to state used in TDI and, partly, in IDTA: qualify your way in by beating a designated minimum score. The “top 6” method used in IHSA leads us to create what we’ll call “the heartbreak stat,” which is the interval between 6th and 7th place. The smallest gap came at 3A Fieldcrest, where just 0.83 separated 6th and 7th. Next closest was 3A-1 at Palatine (1.60 points), 2A Grayslake North (1.64 points), and 3A Grayslake North (1.67 points).

Missing out by fractions of a point is nothing new in competitive dance, but here you’re contending for 6 open spots, rather than aiming to beat out a minimum score. If the 6th place routine is really good, that means some excellent teams end up going home arbitrarily rather than because of a deficiency of talent, choreography, or presentation.

That’s what happened at 3A Grayslake North, where, as mentioned above, 6th place scored very high (and deservedly so–we adore that Mundelein routine, as evidenced in previous blog posts). The same goes for the 2A field at that sectional’s morning session (6th place earned 77.97 points). A 3A assistant coach who had just watched the 2A awards ceremony said to me, “We just saw dreams being crushed out there.”

Teams that deserve major credit and should not have been left out of state include Geneva, Argo, Wauconda, Lake Zurich, Barrington, and Antioch, among many others. The teams that beat them out for positions in the top 6 definitely deserve to go to state, but a handful of great teams certainly don’t deserve tonot go.

For some, life goes on in TDI for the next 6 weeks, and for all of them, TDI might be the sensible path to take next year.

Check out the list of qualifiers, and then scrounge around on youtube for performances. That should make it pretty clear that these teams belong at state.

And if the talent doesn’t convince you, ask yourself this:

Will it really feel like state without these teams?

What if IHSA had a minimum qualifying score?

Fixing the incomplete field at state

What would have happened if teams showed up to sectionals this past Saturday and had to score a certain number of points to get to state instead of trying to get into the top 6?

IDTA and TDI use a few different minimum scores depending on the scenario. Whether you’re used to trying to beat a 78, 80, 82, or 84, this system would’ve prevented the elimination of several state-worthy routines, which is what happened at IHSA sectionals. Here are Saturday’s scores with the actual qualifiers in bold and the non-qualifiers in orange, along with rank and sectional site:

Notice the group of 3 teams in 3A from 13th through 15th, all above 80. Below them are 18 state qualifiers! It’s pretty clear that Lake Zurich, Barrington, and Harlem should be headed for state, and a minimum score system instead of a top 6 system would have prevented their exclusion. If state is all about the best teams and routines competing for top honors, then these 3 clearly belong there.

A similar scenario played out in 2A, where 16th and 17th place were excluded from the state qualifier list, despite having scores that beat out 16 other qualifiers at other sectionals. Cary-Grove should be in Bloomington this weekend. And Antioch shared their unusually artistic and emotive kick routine with us despite dancing with heavy hearts all season after losing one of their own in November. This team will miss state for the flimsiest of reasons: a strong 2A field at their sectional.

Should geography really serve as the basis for picking 30 teams to head downstate? There’s a better way, and it’s the one we’ve used for years to determine who gets to dance for a state championship: a qualifying score.

IHSA State Wrap-Up

IHSA State 2013: a first time for everything

IHSA’s first-ever state weekend for competitive dance gives us so much to chew on that we can’t cram every thought into this single blog post. So we’re throwing all the rules of good blogging out the window and just devoting this first Monday after state to some overall impressions of the weekend.

Familiar names rise to the top again
With so much uncertainty and dissatisfaction over the format and scoring, a few teams were able to navigate through the craziness to rise to the top of their game and deliver outstanding performances.

An enthusiastic shout-out goes to 8CA clients St. Anthony of Effingham. The Bellettes Dance Team picked up a very impressive 3rd place in the 1A finals, adding their name to the list of potent dance programs outside of the Chicago metro area.

8CA also has truckloads of praise for longtime clients Crystal Lake Central, who steadily climbed throughout the season and peaked at just the right moment to win the 2A title. You can be sure that this blog will devote special coverage to their story over the next couple weeks! In the meantime, we’ll just say what a privilege it is to work with such an excellent team. After 10 seasons together, we haven’t gotten tired of all the wins and trophies. Each time feels as exhilarating as the first win in 2004!

Crystal Lake Central’s 1st place 2A trophy and medals

Team support shines through
Special appreciation goes out to Lincoln-Way West for having an exceptionally positive attitude to go along with a very entertaining magic-themed hip hop routine. I was sitting nearby their fans on Saturday morning when the girls stopped by after performing. Among the dancers and parents were only smiles and congratulatory hugs, and just the happiness of doing what they love to do.

Parents and friends were also uber-supportive of the effort given by the Lakes Dance Team as they returned to the seats after the awards on Friday night. Definitely disappointed at being out of the top 10, the Lakes fans were right there to offer positive support and thanks.

All teams probably have similar stories to tell, but these two teams reminded me of how powerful it is to keep positive in any situation, and for fans to give their dancers the most supporting environment possible!

So overall…
Any first-time state event will have its hiccups here and there (though it’s fair to say that the issues with this inaugural season are deep and systemic rather than just growing pains). The floor and lighting were interesting, to say the least, and Blo-No certainly offers up a different vibe from Peoria and Champaign.

Still, IHSA got something right: the awards presentation. The trophies are huge–the same ones enjoyed by traditional IHSA sports. And coaches and team members got to walk up onto the stage for individual recognition as they received their medals. Not much looked good under those lights all weekend, but when it came time for awards, the stage looked like an IHSA idea that we could all appreciate.

All Scores at IHSA State

Ever wonder what the points would look like if it were everybody vs. everybody? Well, here ya go:

Second Season

Time for a Second Season

If a team has spent the whole season in IHSA, how will they do in their first or second TDI weekend?

To try and answer that question, we’ll look at positions and qualifying, but not points (comparing actual IHSA and TDI scores for the same routines is a huge hot-button topic that deserves its own article, and we don’t want to drench this post in a numerical syrup). This should give us a rough idea of how teams with little or no TDI experience this season were able to transition to a new (yet possibly more sensible) set of judges and rubrics.

12 teams in 3A made that transition into TDI this past weekend at 3 TDI competitions (Niles North, Bremen, and Naperville Central). One team–St. Charles North–performed 3 routines for the first time in front of TDI judges this season and qualified all of them for TDI state. Making this feat more impressive is who they competed against within their categories. The SCN Drill Team came in 1st out of 7 in open pom at Naperville Central. In open dance, they came in 1st out of 6, and 4 out of the 5 other teams each had 3 or more TDI competitions under their belt this season. Not a bad TDI debut at all, especially after a rough weekend at IHSA state!

The next most impressive accomplishment is qualifying for state in only your 2nd performance in front of TDI judges all season. Downers Grove South did this in open dance at Bremen. They also took 1st in open pom, one position higher than Plainfield South, who have 3 TDI appearances this season. Also at Bremen were Lockport and Homewood-Flossmoor in the pom category, with both teams performing for the 2nd time in TDI this season and Lockport qualifying. Huntley did TDI open pom for the 2nd time this season at Niles North and qualified, taking 1st. In hip hop, the top 2 teams (out of 6) performed their routines for just the 2nd time and qualified (St. Ignatius and Maine West).

Other teams in this situation had less stellar results. Over at Naperville Central, South Elgin made their 2nd TDI appearance of the season and were unable to qualify open dance and open pom (finishing 5th and 3rd respectively). Niles North hosted the Saturday competition but had yet to dance for TDI judges this season, and came in 4th out of 6 in hip hop.

Starting out our 2A analysis is Bremen, who also hosted a competition this past weekend while debuting in TDI for the season, qualifying lyrical and hip hop. Grayslake North (at Niles North) continued to ride the wave of a successful IHSA run and debuted a hip hop routine which finished 1st and qualified for state.

Several other teams did routines for only the 2nd time in TDI this season, led by Collinsville (at Bremen), who won and qualified both open pom and kick, finishing ahead of TDI-experienced teams. Hinsdale South was also impressive at Bremen, finishing 1st and qualifying their pom routine in front of 3 teams with TDI experience. Grayslake North did pom for the 2nd time in front of TDI judges, winning the category and qualifying for state.

Like in 3A, some of the low-experience TDI teams came up short in 2A. Grayslake Central had only done IHSA until Saturday, and came in 3rd out of 4 behind a mix of experienced and inexperienced TDI teams. Hinsdale South’s kick routine came in 3rd out of 6 and did not qualify. Providence Catholic finished 3rd and 5th in pom and kick respectively, each being the 2nd time they’ve performed in TDI this season.

A handful of 1A teams had minimal TDI experience this season going into this past weekend, and most of them did very well. Morris was impressive in their 2012-2013 TDI debut, qualifying both open pom and hip hop. Civic Memorial danced for the 2nd time in TDI and qualified open pom, dance, and lyrical, winning each category. Streator also qualified their kick routine the first time out.

Conclusions?
Aside from 1A, a pattern doesn’t exactly hit you over the head when it comes to assessing how well teams with minimal TDI experience this season did at the first all-TDI weekend. It’s tempting to say that all of that IHSA experience made certain teams tougher and sharper, maybe as the result of having to navigate through unpredictable scoring all season. But some of these teams also have historically done well in TDI–we’re talking about perennial state contenders like St. Charles North, Downers Grove South, Civic Memorial, and Morris.

In other words, we shouldn’t be surprised at their good performances in TDI, based on history. If anything, you could even conclude that we’re all fortunate that such great programs didn’t appear to have gotten worse for going through the IHSA experience!

Plus, consider all of the IHSA teams who did reasonably well in IHSA but had so-so weekends in front of TDI judges. South Elgin and Grayslake Central danced well over in IHSA, but this didn’t translate into TDI, at least not this past weekend.

And then there’s Grayslake North, who just seem to be sharp and highly motivated this season no matter who’s scoring them.

So without actually focusing on scores, it looks like the teams who have focused on IHSA all season could definitely shake up the TDI standings heading toward Peoria. But they probably would have done well had there never been an IHSA season. And they don’t appear to have gotten rusty or anything!

You could even go further and argue that the TDI-focused teams have missed out on watching, competing with, and learning from these IHSA-oriented teams. Had all of the state’s best talent faced each other all season long in front of a shared pool of judges, who knows where competitive dance would be as we continue the climb to Peoria.

TDI 1A Qualifiers Headed Into Final Weekend

1A Teams headed into their final competition weekend before TDI state

Pom
It was an uphill fight for 1A teams trying to get into state in TDI pom. Of the 5 teams with a pom routine, just 1 has qualified (Fieldcrest–they’re the only 1A pom team scheduled for this weekend).

Open Pom
5 teams have competed with just 2 of them securing a trip to Peoria. But these 2 teams have been both impressive and efficient: Civic Memorial earned a qualifying score in both of their open pom performances, and Morris took care of business in just their one performance. Dupo has one more chance this weekend to qualify their open pom.

Open Dance
Civic Memorial isn’t alone when it comes to efficiency in TDI 1A open dance. They are joined by Genoa-Kingston in being 2-for-2 in qualifying for state. In this category, 5 teams have performed and 3 are headed to Peoria.

Lyrical
Lyrical and hip hop are the most popular categories for 1A with both categories having 7 teams. Lyrical has kept TDI judges busy: they have seen 23 individual lyrical performances this season (compared with 13 kick appearances for the same number of teams). 2 lyrical routines combined for 9 performances and did not qualify. Aurora Central Catholic is an impressive 3-for-4 when it comes to qualifying in 1A lyrical, while both Genoa-Kingston and Civic Memorial are 2-for-2. This weekend, Civic will try for a 3-for-3 record while Mahomet-Seymour will attempt to improve to 2-for-4.

Hip Hop
Despite also having 7 teams competing, hip hop has been somewhat more difficult to qualify for state in 1A (just 3 are headed to Peoria). Aurora Central Catholic has a stunning 4-for-4 record in qualifying its hip hop routine, while Jersey is 2-for-2, and Morris qualified in their single performance (which came just recently at Bremen). Dupo will try to earn a trip to state this weekend at Mahomet-Seymour in their 2nd hip hop performance of the TDI season, while Jersey will try to go for a 3-for-3 record.

Kick
6 kick routines have taken the floor for 11 performances in 1A, leading to 4 teams qualifying. Most notable here is Streator’s 2-for-2 record, both of which came after IHSA state. Lisle has done their kick routine 4 times and earned a qualifying score twice. Fieldcrest was able to earn a Peoria bid in their single kick appearance.

TDI 2A Qualifiers Headed Into Final Weekend

2A Pom
Half of the 2A pom routines are locked-in for state (4 out of 8 routines) with 17 total performances completed. Of these 17, 11 came after IHSA state. Montini and Graylake North are 2-for-2 when it comes to qualifying efficiency (they earned a state-worthy score both times), while Argo and Hinsdale South have qualified 2 out of the 3 times they have performed. Providence Catholic will try to earn a state bid this weekend at Andrew.

2A Open Pom
This field is a little tighter than pom: 7 qualifiers out of 14 teams who have tried. With 27 performances, it’s the 2nd-most frequent category in 2A. Only Collinsville has a perfect qualifying record (2-for-2), while Prairie Ridge qualified in their only appearance back at the Huntley competition. Plainfield North, Oak Forest, and Montini earned state bids in 2 of the 3 times each has performed open pom. There’s a definite relationship between how many times you perform and your qualifying status: non-qualifiers account for just 10 of the 27 open pom performances this season. Lemont, Boylan, and Fenwick all have 1 more shot to get into the state field at Andrew this weekend.

2A Open Dance
With 8 of its 12 teams qualifying so far, this is one of 2A’s best categories for quality, at least on the surface. Judges have seen 23 performances, and Geneva has a perfect qualifying record in their 3 appearances. Larkin qualified in their only appearance, as did Triad. Lemont is 2-for-3, while all the other qualifiers have performed more than once but only qualified once. In other words, this category is full of very good teams, but it’s less clear if many of these routines are consistently good. Peoria-Notre Dame and Romeoville will try to add their names to the qualifying list at Andrew.

2A Lyrical
Here’s another very solid category with 6 out of 7 teams qualifying for a trip to Peoria. But in contrast to open dance, these qualifiers are very efficient, usually scoring a qualifying score when they take to the floor. Here’s the proof: state-bound teams have performed 15 lyrical routines in 2A, and only 4 of these appearances didn’t earn a qualifying score.

2A Hip Hop
TDI judges see plenty of hip hop in 2A (35 performances among 18 teams so far), but just 8 are going to state at this point. Eisenhower made a big splash at IHSA state and then started their TDI season by qualifying their routine 3 straight times. Bremen also started after IHSA state but has lived a different storyline than nearby Eisenhower: they qualified at their competition but not at the next 2. Reavis hopes to get into the state field this weekend, while Jones College Prep will be making their TDI season debut with their hip hop routine.

2A Kick
Another impressive 2A category is kick, where 5 of the 6 routines are state-bound. Plainfield North (shout out to them for using an innovative music choice for a kick routine) is a perfect 3-for-3. Collinsville is also flawless (qualifying-wise) through 2 appearances. The other teams with a state bid, though, are on-and-off when it comes to earning a qualifying score (in 11 performances, just 5 earned a high enough score). On Saturday, Providence Catholic gets a final shot at getting their kick routine on the state list.

TDI 3A Qualifiers Headed Into Final Weekend

3A Teams headed into their final competition weekend before TDI state

Pom
5 teams have qualified their 3A pom routine among the 8 that have tried, and TDI judges have seen a total of 20 pom performances. 3 of those 5 qualifiers secured a spot at Peoria their first time out–and all of these happened before Christmas break. The other 2 qualifiers took care of business their 2nd time out, which happened after IHSA state. Glenbard North continues to ride their success from last year: they’ve gone out 4 times with their pom routine and qualified each time. St. Charles East has one more shot to qualify at Stevenson, and the same goes for Mother McAuley at Andrew.

Open Pom
This category has 16 teams trying to get to state, and 9 are headed there so far. A total of 39 open pom performances have been evaluated by TDI judges this season. Unlike the pom category, all of the qualifiers in open pom have competed in IHSA during the season. Of the 7 who have not yet qualified, 4 of these teams did not participate in IHSA. Most of the qualifiers were good from the start: 8 of them nailed down a Peoria trip in their 1st or 2nd performance, while the 9th team qualified in its 3rd outing. It’ll be a last-chance performance at Andrew for Bradley Bourbounnais and Oswego East, while West Chicago faces the same situation at Stevenson.

Open Dance
This category has taken the floor 38 times this season (just 1 behind the open pom total). 9 out of 18 teams are state qualifiers so far. 8 of these qualifiers have appeared just once or twice this season, perhaps signaling that these routines are solid enough to not have to repeatedly tweak in a competition situation. The 9th qualifier has performed their open dance routine 5 times, earning a qualifying score in 2 of them. Expect tons of drama this weekend at Andrew where Oswego East, Bradley Bourbonnais, Naperville Central, and host school Andrew will try one last time for a state-qualifying score.

Lyrical
3 of the 6 lyrical teams are headed to Peoria, performing a total of 12 times during the TDI season. The teams who haven’t qualified have only performed a total of 3 times. Oswego East will try to become the 4th qualifier this weekend at Andrew.

Hip Hop
Just 6 of the 14 hip hop routines have qualified for state over a total of 30 performances this season. West Chicago will go for a trip to Peoria in their last competitive hip hop performance of the season at Stevenson this weekend. Both Whitney Young and Plainfield Central have one more shot to get to state when they perform at Andrew.

Kick
Just 4 teams have a kick routine in 3A this year, and 2 have qualified. We don’t get to see 3A kick too often (just 10 performances). Naperville Central has another shot to earn a state bid this weekend at Andrew.

TDI Pom All-Time Stats

36 different teams have brought a pom routine to TDI state since 2009, and just 9 of them have appeared in this category in all 4 years since then (they’re highlighted below). Notice that of the 13 pom championships handed out, 9 belong to these 4-year teams:

Crystal Lake Central stands out with its perfect record of 4 championships in 2A. Montini is the only other team with more than 1 championship in pom. The 1A division has had a steady list of contenders and champions, as well (Peotone, Montini twice, and then Fieldcrest since 2009). But 3A (and last year’s 4A) tends to be a wide-open division, with championships bouncing around among Fremd, Wheaton Warrenville South, Schaumburg, and Wheaton North, plus Glenbard North’s 4A title in 2012.

The average rankings give us an idea of who’s been consistently good besides Crystal Lake Central and Montini. Among schools with at least 3 state appearances in pom since 2009, Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South, Fieldcrest, Fremd, Minooka, and Peotone all boast averages that are no worse than 3rd place. The 3A schools in that group are especially impressive given that they have had so much more competition to deal with at Peoria than the 1A and 2A teams.

The IHSA shake-up has had a serious impact on the pom fields headed to Peoria. Across all 4 divisions, last year’s TDI state contest featured 25 pom routines. But more than a few of these teams won’t be returning to Peoria because their schools have locked them out of TDI: Cary Grove, Conant, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Deerfield, Fremd, Lincoln-Way North, Lincoln-Way West, McHenry, Palatine, Quincy, Ridgewood, Schaumburg, Stagg, Streamwood, and Wheaton North. This list includes 2 defending state champions, a runner-up, and a 3rd-place finisher. Taken as a group, these teams have won 7 TDI championships in the pom category since 2009.

The changeover to an IHSA-only season didn’t go so well for most in this group. Of these 16 teams, just 3 made it to the finals in Bloomington. Of the 2 defending TDI pom champions, 1 earned an inaugural IHSA championship, but the other didn’t advance out of sectionals. In fact, 7 of these teams didn’t qualify for the trip to IHSA state.

Does this open the way for newcomers to have a shot at a pom category TDI championship? The numbers don’t necessarily support that: just 2 of this year’s pom qualifiers have never appeared at TDI state in this category, and everyone else has appeared more than once. It will definitely be a new day for 2A pom with Crystal Lake Central’s absence, and the same goes for 3A without Fremd.