Two times the fun

It took about 2 minutes, 45 seconds for the Holdingford Huskers dance teams to make school history at the Section 2A dance meet Feb. 11 at Melrose Area Elementary School in Melrose.

The team had a 2:20 jazz routine and a 2:23 kick routine. At the awards announcements, the Huskers were named second in both divisions. For the first time, both dance teams qualified for the Minnesota State High School League Class A Dance State Tournament.

 “We are so thankful,” said Jada Mosey, smiling and fingering a second-place medal. “We worked so hard this season and all of our hard work paid off.”

Mosey and her teammates have reasons to smile. Sending both routines to state was a goal since the program began five years ago.

“It’s exciting,” said Aubrie Opatz, Holdingford dancer. “We thought we could do it, looking at the scores.”

The team attended state in jazz a year ago and knew a duo entry would not be easy. There are competitive teams in the section. 

 “We knew it would be tough,” said Grayce Meyer, Holdingford dance head coach. “Over there (she nodded to the Cathedral squad), is the reigning state champion in both.”

The Huskers, which danced to “Fire” in high kick and “I’ll Be” in jazz, took second to Cathedral in jazz and kick. Cathedral earned first-place ranks from all eight judges in both divisions. Holdingford earned twos, threes and three and one-halves. New London-Spicer’s kick and jazz teams finished third and will go to state.

The Melrose Area Rosettes, the host team, earned fifth in kick and sixth in jazz. The team gave its strongest performances of the campaign, earning primarily fourth-to-seventh ranks while also receiving a second-place rank from one judge on its kick routine, in which the team danced to “Rosettes Worldwide.” The jazz team performed to the song “Ashes.”

“They had energy,” said Caitlyn Mayo, Rosettes head coach. “They did so well, I was so happy. We know the top two would go head-to-head and the battle for third would be tough.”

The Huskers will be sending a young squad to the state meet. Not only is the program young; so is team membership.

“We had a large group come in after we went to state last year,” Meyer said. “We don’t have any seniors, and we have lot of seventh graders.”

The state dance meet will be held at Target Center in Minneapolis. The 12 attending teams will participate in a qualifying round, with six advancing to the final round. The Class A jazz qualifying round will begin at 11:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 17, with the finals at 5:30 p.m. The Class A high kick qualifying competition will be held at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 18. The finals start at 5:30 p.m.

The section contest was the final appearance for the Rosettes this year. While Melrose missed qualifying for state, the team improved all year.

“We had our best performance today,” Mayo said. “The girls were so positive and a great unit together. Each week, we kept reaching our goals, and this last meet was our best performance.”

Jazz: 1. Cathedral 5 rank points, 2. Holdingford 10, 3. NLS 18.5, 4. Southwest Christian 19.5, 5. Providence Academy 22.5, 6. Melrose 29, 7. Spectrum 36.5, 8. Pursuing Academics and Character Together 37, 8. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa/Paynesville 43, 10. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 45.5, 11. Litchfield 55, 12. Sauk Centre 59. High kick: 1. Cathedral 5, 2. Holdingford 10.5, 3. NLS 14.5, 4. ACGC 19.5, 5 Melrose 24, 6.5 (tie) Spectrum 32, 6.5 (tie) Providence 32, 8. Litchfield 39.5 and 9. Sauk Centre 44.