You wake up in the morning before everyone in your house. Every light is off, and you get out of bed and into your car in the crisp morning air. The time is 5:00 AM. This schedule is every day for Ava Allen. Ava Allen, a junior at Rocky Mountain High School, is Head Captain of the Rocky Mountain Diamond Dance Team. Her role as captain has many benefits and leadership roles. This is her 3rd year on the team, and she has loved every minute of it.
Dance is not a new part of Ava’s life. Her dance career has lasted for 14 years and counting. She started her journey at a local Meridian studio, Impact Dance Center, with her best-friend Mylee Goto, junior at Rocky, who is also a member of the dance team. Rocky’s drill team and Impact’s studio team were amusing and fun, but as she got older it became very trying on her schedule with the additional school, family, friends, and loss of personal time. In the beginning of the current school year, she decided to give her full attention to the drill team, and she has gained more motivation and a strong desire to get up in the morning for practice.
Ava’s freshman year was a very memorable year for her when she won 3rd place overall at state and 1st place in the large military division at USA Nationals in Anaheim, California. The team then to Disneyland capping off such a fun week. She was very intimidated by the upper classmen but as she progressed further into the season, they became like her second family. As the seniors graduated and the new freshman came along, she still found a way to stay very close with her team, and she enjoys performing and competing with them.
Ava sees the many positives to being captain. She says, “The pros are getting to support the team, being able to be a leader on the team, and help everyone.” She was then asked if she had any negative aspects and Ava said she did not have a single one. Being on the team means that all the girls you meet are you like your sisters, so the team has “Bigs” and “Littles” to prove this relationship further. Ava is a great mentor to her little and she loves taking care of and watching out for the lower classmen.
There are many parts to the drill team at Rocky and Ava enjoys all. From performing dances inside the gym at assemblies to dancing at halftime during the Friday night lights, Ava cannot get enough! Her current relationship status is “taken.” Her boyfriend, Owen Weatherly, a junior, is #30 on Rocky’s varsity football team. One of her favorite parts of the team is dancing on the sidelines at football games. She loves cheering on Owen and showing her appreciation and commitment to him. Her commitment to the team, however, is also shown as she gets up every morning to get to practice. Dance is a year long sport at the school and this is what she has to say about it, “It’s definitely tiring, but it’s fun. We practice at 5:45 and I always try to put 110% into our practice during when we run laps, do conditioning, stretch, and run all our dances.”
Reporters decided to get an inside scoop on what Ava’s teammates think of her role as Captain and here is what they said. Capri Payne, a sophomore at Rocky Mountain, is in the middle of her first year on the team and she was asked the question “Do you like Ava being your captain and does she help you?” Capri’s response was, “I love Ava being my captain. She is so amazing, and she inspires me to be better, I would never ask for a better captain in my whole life.” Madisyn Walker, a freshman at Rocky, is also on the Diamond Dance Team and she is currently going through her first year on the team. She was asked, “Do you like Ava being your captain and does she motivate you?” Her response was, “I love Ava being my captain. She really is the best and she really pushes us to do our greatest and she supports the whole entire team no matter what.” Ava’s best friend, Mylee Goto, also a junior, has done the drill team all three years with Ava while they started their entire dance journey together at Impact. She is Hip Hop Captain. She was asked if she was nervous about their upcoming State Competition. “I am really excited, and I think we are going to do really good. I think we look really good, and we qualified in all our dances at Districts, so I think we have a good chance at State. I also love that Ava is my captain because we are so close and she is my best friend. I just love her so much.” Ava was very touched to hear what these three girls think about her and her response was, “They’re so kind. I love my teammates. I love my team.”
Districts, state, nationals. These girls work so hard to prepare for these three competitions. Their whole season and how much they work hard throughout the season leads to these final moments. The team went to Districts on February 8th, 2025, and they made their school proud by qualifying for state in all three of their dances. They placed 6th in 6A Hip Hop, 4th in the 6A Dance category, and 1st in the Large Military category making them Military District Champions. She was asked how she felt in preparations for their State Competition and going into it. She replied, “I actually feel really good, and I think we are the best we have ever looked going into state in all three of my years on the team. Even though we got 3rd in the state in my freshman year, we look even better now than we did then. I am also so excited for Nationals and it is going to be so much fun. Staying in a hotel with all the girls is one of the best parts.”
Even though the dance team is a full year-round sport and a real commitment, Ava does not give up. Her teammate says it herself, “I’ve never seen Ava not put in all her effort during practice and not go full out,” says Madisyn Walker. Ava’s determination really sticks out to her teammates and coaches and she is an idol that girls in every grade on the team really look up to.
