MM_011917

46 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger sports
mokenamessenger.com
Knights finish third in SWSC competition
Chris Walker
Freelance Reporter
Kate Dempsey and Natasha
Robinson are not only
standouts in the classroom.
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They are also stars on the
dance floor.
The two Andrew seniors,
who are also Illinois State
Scholars, helped the Thunderbolts
win the SouthWest
Suburban Conference Red
Division competitive dance
title Jan. 11 in Bolingbrook.
“We definitely had a lot
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of competition going into
it,” Dempsey said. “I’m
super stoked. I’m on cloud
nine. I can’t believe it just
happened. It’s so amazing
to see all of our hard work
pay off, and taking the
floor is just an amazing feeling.”
Robinson said the team’s
Please see Dance, 44
Lincoln-Way Central’s Amanda Ruzas (left) and Emma
Wagner perform Jan. 11 during the SWSC Dance
Competition hosted at Bolingbrook High School.
Paul Bergstrom/22nd Century Media
Injuries, schedule hinder East’s showing in SWSC Blue
Chris Walker
Freelance Reporter
As one of the final teams
to take the floor during a
lengthy SouthWest Suburban
Conference competitive
dance meet, Sandburg
could have lost its focus.
Instead, the Eaglettes put
on an unforgettable show,
saving arguably the best
performance in Bolingbrook’s
gymnasium for last,
as they won the Blue Division.
They were the thirdto-last
team to compete.
It also marked the third
straight season that Sandburg
has won conference,
and this time, they did it
with a team that had more
new faces than old ones. The
Eaglettes only returned seven
dancers from last season,
but added eight new ones,
including one freshman.
“We’re absolutely happy
to win conference again.
We’ve very excited about
that,” Sandburg coach Jill
Roberson said. “We had
made a couple changes to
the routines since our last
performance, so we were
happy with that.”
Evolving, making tweaks
here and there and trying to
orchestrate the perfect ending
have all been a part of
Roberson’s plan to get the
team to perform at its best.
“We’ve changed things
from last year, and now
we’re already working on
our fourth ending,” she said.
“We’re almost there, and
now we’re getting ready for
sectionals.”
Although pleased with
the result, Roberson felt the
team wasn’t as energetic as
it needed to be. She assumes
that will take care of itself
the next time they compete.
“I wish we would’ve
brought a little more energy,
but we’ll see what sectionals
can bring,” she said.
“But overall, we’re pretty
happy.”
Lockport finished in third
place at both levels.
“We were happy with JV’s
placement, but we were hoping
for a better showing with
varsity, but still thrilled with
third place,” Porters coach
Kerri Elkei said. “We had
some uncharacteristic mistakes
and some timing/synchronization
issues in a few
places. At this point in the
season, the judges want to
see clean routines, so those
things hurt us. With that being
said, the girls are in good
spirits and want to make it
down to state. We know that
if they work hard over the
next week and bring their
A-game, they are capable of
achieving that goal.”
A few mistakes and an
injury-plagued Lincoln-
Way East pushed them into
fourth place among the sixteam
field.
“We were proud that our
girls were able to persevere
and recover from a few
missteps to finish the routine
strong,” Griffins coach
Karisa Casey said. “We
were also pleased with the
execution of four very difficult
lifts that take place
throughout the routine,
and we got some positive
feedback about several improvements
we have made
over the past few days.”
Casey said that the team
would continue to make adjustments
heading into sectional
to improve its overall
visual effect and musicality.
“We plan to do this by
manipulating a few of our
formations and building in
some more layers through
varying the tempo of choreography
and creating visual
dimension through grouping
of our dancers,” she said.
“The girls are coming off of
a hectic week - three competitions
in six days along
with practice and a basketball
game performance - but
they continue to be focused
on what is necessary to have
a successful performance at
sectionals.
“We are competing
against some very talented
teams, but we have full confidence
that our girls will
rise to the occasion.”