This past weekend, the Niles West pommers headed to Peoria to compete in the Team Dance Illinois State competition. Out of over 100 teams throughout the state that competed, the West pommers placed third. Despite the pommers having qualified for state in the past, this is their first time placing so high in the competition.

“This is the first time we’ve ever placed in the top three teams, which is so exciting,” stated senior Emily Topp said. “It’s awesome to place top three in the state and see all of our hard work pay off.”

“Our category, 3A Hip Hop, is really competitive,”  senior Ariel Morgan said. “Since there are many great teams, we knew we had to leave it all on the floor if we wanted to place.”

Back in December, the girls placed first at a Niles North competition which then gave them the qualifications to compete at state.

This wasn’t the first big competition that the girls competed in this year. In January, the girls had the opportunity to go to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida to compete in the UDA National Championships. This was their third year in a row attending the national competition.

Hard work and dedication is nothing new to these pommers. Morgan explains what the girls had to do to prepare for this level of competition.

“We practiced for many hours making sure that every part of the dance is clean and everyone is on the right counts so we can get the most points as possible and make it look great on the floor.”

Senior Karolina Orynczak also knew that this would be a tough competition, but was confident in her abilities and those of her fellow dancers.

“The competition was nerve wracking but I was excited to perform and I knew all the hard work we put into our routine would pay off.”

Head coach Christine Widell was proud of the girls regardless of how they placed.

“For us, scores and trophies are not the measure of success,”  Widell said. “No matter how we placed at state, we knew we had already succeeded because we had all put our hearts and souls into the season.  I am proud to coach this team every day and I am grateful for their commitment, drive and passion.”

This was the last competition for the 2013-2014 poms season.