MARSHALL - After months of hard work and determination, the Marshall Tiger Dance Team is ready for another trip to state competition.
The Marshall Tiger Dance Team took first in varsity high kick and second in varsity jazz at the Section 3AA tournament Saturday at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria. The team moves onto state competition Feb. 17-18 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
"We went into sections hoping to keep our section title for kick and we also ended up improving for jazz, which was great," said dance team co-captain Marissa Schroeder.
Article Photos
Photo courtesy of Dave West
The Marshall Tiger Dance Team won first place in high kick and second place in jazz at the Section 3AA tournament Saturday at Holy Family Catholic High School.
"It's very exciting, it was very hard work to keep the section championship three years in a row," said co-captain Hannah Enderson.
"Our team has come really far this year, especially in jazz," said co-captain Brianna West.
This will be Marshall's fourth trip to state, said Schroeder.
Saturday was pretty relaxed, Schroeder said.
"We weren't stressed about anything," Schroeder said. Marshall's biggest competition in high kick is Waconia and Mound Westonka. In jazz, it's Holy Family and Mound Westonka. Waconia took second in kick and Mound Westonka placed first in jazz.
"It was really great, we had a lot of energy out on the floor, a real good performance," West said about the jazz team's performance on Saturday.
Marshall built its confidence by practicing every single day after school. Schroeder said there were also a few weekend practices as well. The kick team's routine is to a Black Eyed Peas mix and the jazz team performs to a medley of songs with the word "Think" in them.
West said they're thankful for the talent the team has this year.
"The team just really wanted to work hard this year," West said. "We super-improved in every area."
And after the kick team completed its routine, the girls knew they did well, Enderson said.
"We all thought we did pretty great, we were hoping to be in the top three for sure," Enderson said.
The plan for the next two weeks, Schroeder and Enderson said, is to basically practice, practice, practice so there are no mistakes in the routines. Last year, the team took seventh in high kick and 11th in jazz at state competition.
"Hopefully we can beat our competition at state and break into finals," Enderson said.