One of the Diamond Dancers’ goals for the year was to place at nationals, and they did just that. The team traveled to California and placed 2nd in the nation for their military routine.
The competition was held on March 17, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. This was an all-day event hosted by the Miss Dance Drill Team organization in Ontario California. The dancers planned to travel three days before the competition, so they had enough time to prepare themselves. The team flew out on Thursday March 14, 2024, and began preparing for the competition on Sunday.
The dancers practiced Friday and Saturday in their hotel before Sunday’s competition. When asked the question of, how did you feel the morning of the competition, Laura Proudfoot (freshman) said, “I felt excited about performing the dances with the team and interested to see how we would do compared to all the other teams there.” Everyone was anxious to see what the teams looked like in California compared to Idaho, but the team was excited to perform for the judges.
They arrived at the Ontario Convention Center on Sunday morning. As they started warming up in the dressing room, they felt even more ready. Gwynn Thompson (freshman) said, “It was definitely nerve racking because some of the other teams were huge and really in sync for being that big, and the rest of the teams were also really good.” So even though the team felt ready, they were still intimidated by the larger California teams.
The first dance the team performed was their military routine. This routine takes a lot of strength and endurance that had to be created throughout the year. All the coaches and parents sat right at the front of the floor they were performing on and cheered loudly for the Diamond Dancers. After they finished, the team walked off the stage with lots of confidence. This dance ended up placing 2nd during the awards ceremony.
The second dance the dancers performed was their dance routine. The team practiced this dance a lot before they went on stage and felt very prepared to perform for the judges. The energy in the room was high and the dancers felt the adrenaline. The team placed 3rd for this routine. The dancers had a lunch break after this dance and were able to rest before performing their last two dances. Claire Foss (sophomore) explained, “I felt like our lunch break helped us regain our spirits and strength from all that had happened in the first two dances, and I was very excited to keep competing at Nationals.”
The next dance that the team prepared for was their Pom routine. This dance is a very high energy and technical routine. The team practiced this dance a lot so they felt ready for the judges to see it. The crowd cheered all throughout the dance because the energy from the dancers was all over the room. This dance placed 4th at the awards ceremony. The final dance the team performed was their hip hop dance. This routine took the team a lot of effort as it was their final dance of the day. The team took the floor and danced with confidence. Some mistakes were made during this routine, but no one was mad about it because everyone had fun. This dance didn’t get any awards, but the team was proud of what they put out on the floor anyway.
The team had fun at the Nationals competition and were proud of what they had accomplished. Even if the competition was a little different this year, the team got to bond and make memories that will last a lifetime. When asked the question of how Nationals went as a freshman Lily Clark (freshman) said, “Nationals was so much fun, it’s just like getting to travel with your sisters and going on an adventure together. I was excited to see how we compared with the other teams in California and also compete in low elevation because it is easier, but also because I heard we always do better at Nationals, so I was hyped for that!”
