Saturday was all smiles for the Detroit Lakes dance teams in their final home meet at the Ralph Anderson Gym.
The Lakers took first in jazz and second in high-kick in the Class AA/AAA division. The Jazz team won with a score of three points, which is the best possible score the Lakers could've gotten. Head coach Britton Ramsey was excited to see her girls celebrate in their home gym one more time before the new facility opens.
"It felt so good to hear our name called with so many fans and alumni in the gym," Ramsey said. "It's hard to think that it's the last competition in the Ralph."
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The Lakers beat out Bemidji, Willmar, Pequot Lakes and Moorhead for first place in the jazz competition. In high kick, the Detroit lakes finished one point behind Bemidji in second place with a total of six. The Lakers' brought home a pair of top-two finishes early in the season in what could be a huge confidence boost going forward.
After competing in a meet just two days prior in Pequot Lakes, Ramsey made some subtle chances before the only home meet of the season.
"Placing in the top at this point in the season is so huge for their confidence," Ramsey said. "Our kick scores went up 60 points in 36 hours, and our jazz scores are higher than our highest scores from last year. They have been pushing themselves hard, and to see them rewarded will only continue that momentum. We're really excited."
"I'm so impressed with our athletes' flexibility in their ability to accept change," Ramsey said. "We changed formations, made some tweaks to choreography and even added in another dancer who learned the entire dance in one day. Everyone pitched in to help make it happen, and they worked so hard this week. Our jazz team really connected with the song and showed more of an emotional connection today and our kick team was so much cleaner and sharper."
Saturday was just the Lakers' third meet of the season. With more tweaks and fine-tuning to come, they have a long way to go before getting where they need to be at come sections in February.
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"Moving forward, we need to work on our kick height and technique," Ramsey said. "As the kick dance gets easier for them to execute, we can start adding in more complex movement and kick sequences. In jazz, our turn timing needs improvement, and we have been talking to the dancers about dancing bigger, so they completely fill their personal bubble."
Dance teams rarely get more than one home meet in a season. For the Lakers, Saturday was a chance to welcome back a packed gym filled with spectators for the first time in two seasons and the last time at the Ralph Anderson Gym.
"I had been thinking about how each team before this year has inched us closer to where we are today and how special it is to have those memories in the last competition at the Ralph," Ramsey said. "Our dancers are absolutely pumped to celebrate their win with each other and their fans."
DETRO IT LAKES INVITE JAZZ RESULTS
1st- Detroit Lakes 3, 2nd- Bemidji 6, 3rd- Willmar 10, 4th- Moorhead 12, 5th- Pequot Lakes 13
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DETROIT LAKES INVITE HIGH KICK RESULTS
1st- Bemidji 5, 2nd- Detroit Lakes 6, 3rd- Pequot Lakes 8.5, 4th- Moorhead 11, 5th- Willmar 14, 6th- Rock Ridge
