OP_120816

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the orland park prairie | December 8, 2016 | 47
fastbreak
Mark Korosa/22nd Century
Media
1st and 3
Roe-ling over the
competition
1. Recent accomplishments
On. Nov. 29, Sandburg-Stagg
co-op
competitor Maddy
Roe (ABOVE) won on
beam and vault, and
tied for first on bars
again the Lincoln-
Way co-op. She also
finished fifth on floor
for a team high.
2. Last year’s accomplishments
This past season,
Roe finished eighth
at state on vault and
11th on beam as
a sophomore. She
took ninth all-around
at state after placing
21st in all-around as
a freshman.
3. But wait; there’s
more
Check out Freelance
Reporter Chris
Walker’s story on
the team taking on
Lincoln-Way recently,
Page 44 this week.
Former D230 rivals turn dance teammates at St. Ambrose
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
When Taryn Moustakas,
Sam O’Malley and Sydney
Sobkowiak competed in
competitive dance competitions
at Stagg, Andrew and
Sandburg, respectively, they
always wanted to do it at the
highest level — especially
when they competed against
another Consolidated High
School District 230 team.
But now the trio is performing
together and truly
doing it at the highest level.
That is because all three
of them are now on the competitive
dance team at St.
Ambrose University.
This past season, the
Fighting Bees won the dance
portion of the 2016 National
Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics Competitive
Cheer & Dance Invitational.
It was the second straight
season and third time in five
years that the university —
located in Davenport, Iowa
— won the NAIA Championship.
“It was incredible,”
O’Malley said of being on
the title team. “You work so
hard during the season, and
to see all that hard work pay
off ... words can’t describe
it.”
O’Malley is a 2015 Andrew
graduate and a sophomore
on the university’s
team. Moustakas and Sobkowiak
graduated from their
respective high schools this
past spring and are freshman.
“I’ve known Sam since
we little kids,” Sobkowiak
said of her relationship with
“Defending our title means
working hard and working
together. It’s no longer Stagg
versus Sandburg or Andrew; it’s
St. Ambrose University versus
everyone else.”
Taryn Moustakas — Stagg graduate, on competing
alongside former D230 rivals in college
O’Malley. “We went to the
same dance studio, [TNT]
Extreme Dance in Tinley
Park. I found out about [St.
Ambrose] because of her.
I knew she was here, but
when I came on my visit it
convinced me to go here.
“I basically committed
on my visit but didn’t make
it official until a few weeks
afterward. I also love that
the class size here is smaller.
You’re not just a number.”
Even though they competed
against each other in high
school, Moustakas did not
know either of the other two.
“In our first time meeting
as a team, it was like, ‘Hey,
we’re all from the same
area,’” Moustakas said. “I
had never met Sam or Sydney.
I have been dancing
since I was 3 [years old],
but never really took it serious
until high school. Then,
I thought about competing
24/7 when I was at Stagg.”
It is serious for the three
now, as they hope to combine
to bring a D230 flavor
in helping the Fighting Bees
to a third straight National
championship.
“We had to come together
and form a new bond and
have left behind old beliefs,
especially since we
are defending our championship
title this season,”
Moustakas said. “Defending
our title means working
hard and working together.
It’s no longer Stagg versus
Sandburg or Andrew; it’s St.
Ambrose University versus
everyone else.”
The three are not just from
D230; they have other things
in common, too.
“Taryn and I never met,
but it was really cool when
we found out we were from
the same area,” O’Malley
said. “All three of us knew
the same places, the same
restaurants. I also started
dancing when I was 3 and
kept going.”
Sobkowiak added, “I also
started dancing in the age of
3, 4, 5 range. I didn’t really
do it competitively until I
was 8 or 9. But I love it and
don’t want to give it up. I
Former D230 rivals turned St. Ambrose competitive
dance teammates (left to right) Sydney Sobkowiak, Taryn
Moustakas and Sam O’Malley pose for a photo together.
Photo submitted
dance everywhere I go, even
in the store.”
While it has been in place
a number of years, this is
the first season competitive
dance is considered an official
“sport” at St. Ambrose.
That makes it eligible to give
out scholarships. The team
performed poms routines
at the Fighting Bees football
games and has the state
dance competition coming
up in Davenport, Iowa.
The regionals are in February,
and in March the NAIA
Championships is held.
“Dance in college is super
competitive,” O’Malley said.
“We have a winter season, and
then a state competition. Then
if you place high enough, you
qualify out of that you get to
go to nationals.”
Naturally, the Fighting
Bees hope to go to nationals
and bring back another title.
And now the three friends
from the same high school
district hope to keep the
Fighting Bees on top.
“I talked to Taryn and
Sam, and we’ve all connected
so much,” Sobkowiak
said. “We’re like, ‘Wow,
District 230 is here.’”
LISTEN UP
“We both laughed it off and just moved on from there. A lot
of kids would get shook and it would just turn their whole
day off and nothing would go right the rest of the day.”
Mike White — Sandburg-Stagg co-op girls gymnastics coach, on recently colliding
with Maddy Roe while spotting her on bars
What 2 Watch
Girls Gymnastics — 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10
• The Eagles take it on the road for the
Hinsdale Central Invite.
INDEX
41 - Athlete of the Week
41 - This Week In
Compiled by Editor Bill Jones, bill@opprairie.com.