The Knightettes claimed their second consecutive Jazz/Funk State title, and a fourth place finish in High Kick at this year’s Dance Team State Tournament. The competition was at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Friday, Feb 13 and Saturday, Feb 14. The team made it as finalists in both the High Kick and Jazz/Funk portions of the competition, the High Kick portion on Friday and Jazz portion on Saturday.

The High Kick competition included competitor schools like Totino-Grace, Spring Lake Park, and the defending champions St. Cloud Cathedral. The team performed to the song “Perfect Day” by Cascada and advanced from prelims to finals along with six other teams.

“Friday’s final performance was amazing and we performed it the best we could have,” said senior Nicole Kivo. “Everyone was amazing and pushed it as hard as they could, and in the end, we were really happy with how we placed; it was a tough competition to even make it to finals so we were really happy.”

This performance carried them to a fourth place finish, a solid result seeing that their specialty is the Jazz/Funk routine. “We were all very happy with high kick because we met our goal of being in the top four; we performed the best we have all season and we did the best we could,” said junior Natalie Dorsey.

On Saturday for the Jazz/Funk competition, the team performed to “Say” by John Mayer and advanced to finals. “We all danced as one and performed to the best of our abilities––it was the most amazing feeling,” said junior Brett Threlkeld.

All the teams (Totino-Grace, St. Cloud Cathedral, Spring Lake Park, Sartell-St. Stephen, and Academy of Holy Angels) had solid performances, and as the names were called out; Spring Lake Park in 3rd, Totino-Grace in 2nd; intensity in the BSM fan section mounted until the Knightettes were announced as the section 2A winner.

This win was the second consecutive championship claimed by the Knightettes. “It was a shock for us to win on Saturday because all the teams were amazing and we knew it would be hard to win state twice in a row but all of our hard work paid off after a rough beginning of the season,” said Dorsey.

“Once he said we won, the water works started! It is the most incredible feeling, I don’t know if there will ever be a moment of more instant excitement ever again in any of our lives. It’s truly indescribable!” said senior Claire Anderson.