The 2012-13 season came to an end for each of the Detroit Lakes Jazz and Kick Dance Teams, after they finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Section meet in Sartell last Saturday.
Despite placing in the same positions as they did last year, both Laker teams saw plenty of progress as they look forward to building for another run at state next season.
"The girls definitely had made huge strides of improvement during January and it seems that they peaked at the right time," said dance team head coach Britton Ramsey. "Our jazz team has great technique ability, which puts us ahead of other teams in our section.
"For kick this year, our strength was just being different. Though we were not the only team doing a themed routine, we had some visual color changes and unique music which helped us stand out."
But the Lakers did have several dancers named to the All-State team, including Brielle Boeckel, Greta Fritz, Katelyn Johnson and Arika Johnson.
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With the Lakers being on the younger side, Ramsey said she credits junior captain Karissa Berg for having a positive influence on the lower grade dancers.
"Karissa rose to the occasion and was a great motivator and example to the other dancers," Ramsey said. "I'm also very impressed with the maturity I saw throughout the year by our freshman dancers."
The teams' ultimate goals of placing better than last year were nearly met, as well, and they ended up six points (out of 700) away from sixth place in kick and 60 points away from third in jazz.
"So we were very close to meeting those goals," the DL coach said.
But the main thing was the progress the dancers made.
"This year presented different challenges than last year, but ultimately we saw improvement from this year's team," Ramsey said. "With being a young team, they will continue to get better each year."
The Laker Dance Team will have tryouts for the 2013-14 season at the DLHS March 4-7, for any prospective dancer in grades 6-11 this year.
