On Saturday, Jan. 10, the SMCHS dance team competed in their first competition of the season, the Aliso Dance Classic at Aliso Niguel High School. The team performed in a total of nine routines, six group dances and three solos and performed in the styles of lyrical, jazz and hip hop.

A new season means a new team. This year, 10 new girls were added to the 20-member team.

“[Because] we pretty much have a brand new team, it was very important that we got out a great first impression of our new team,” said senior captain Berit McLaughlin.

“You always expect that it is going to be a little bit rough because it is their first time out there and the first time in front of judges,” said Director of Dance Jill Schroeder. “Sometimes crazy things happen. I just expect something that’s going to be an eye opener of what we need to work on pursuing forward in the season. I just always look at the first competition as a learning experience.”

This competition was no exception, as senior Rebecca Dellefield ruptured a ligament on the top of her foot the day before competition. As Dellefield was supposed to be part of every dance, the team had to use every alternate with less than a 24 hour notice. However, even with this predicament, the girls placed at the top.

The dance team placed first in five out of the six divisions, and second in the sixth. In the solos, junior Alexis Hopper placed first in the eleventh grade division, and McLaughlin and senior Shania Zingales placed third and fourth respectively in the twelfth grade division.

“Going into this first competition is always nerve racking because we all want to do well but we never expect to win,” Hopper said. “We just want to go out there and do our best and have a good time too.”

Each year there is a strong desire to do well and improve upon the preceding year. For the rest of this season, the team competes five more times, the last one being the USA Nationals at Anaheim Convention Center.

“These dances are very different than previous years, so it was a big reach for us to do well,” McLaughlin said. “Since our team is growing, we are really starting to try new things and it has worked really well for us.”

Going forward, the team strives to improve for the next time they compete, not just to place better. Improvement takes place by working hard in practice, listening to the judges critiques from past competitions and having team talks.

“A goal that our team has set for the rest of the year is to continue our upward trend towards success,” McLaughlin said. “We should never settle for average. Dancing is a sport that you can never be perfect; you can always get better and stronger.”

Right after awards, the team huddles to do their SMCHS chant.