Region Drill 2013

Well, one of the big days was here, Region Drill Competition.  We were excited, ready, and nervous!  We headed over to Springville High School at about 1:45 p.m. that day for our practice time.  When we arrived, the Springville drill team had left us a good luck treat on the floor.

 Here's our good luck treat from Springville.

 The team with their treat!

 We practiced and then went and had dinner that the school provided for us and the moms put together and delivered to us.  It was yummy!  I'm so glad to have supportive parents that help out when we need it!

We headed back to our dressing room to get ready for the competition.  We needed to braid our hair and get our makeup on etc.

 Braiding hair -

 Fake eyelashes and makeup!

 More braiding!

 I asked Coach Hall to come and do some visualization with the team.

 Visualizing perfect performances!

 

The night went well!  I was a little worried about our military, we had a few small "bobbles".  But, hopefully it wouldn't be enough to matter.  I felt like our routine was solid as far as choreography goes.  We always received 20/20 on the routine score.

 

Dance went really well!  Then it came time for Kick.  The sound system wouldn't read the disk!  The girls sat there in their starting position for what seemed like FOREVER!  It was probably at least a minute, but the sound technician had to finally get his laptop out and then it read our disk!  Funny thing was, that during our practice time, it read the disk with no problem.  Weird, but we still pulled our routine off fine!

 

When it came time for awards, I felt like things were going to be ok.  I always go with what I call my gut feeling.  And my gut feeling was that we had it! 

So, sure enough, they started announcing the awards and with military, 3rd was Springville, 2nd was Salem, so I knew it, we had it--1st place, Maple Mountain!  Yeah!  It felt so good!  I don't know why, I think it was because of last year!  It was sweet redemption!  I was able to feel it two more times--we won 1st in Dance and 1st in Kick!  So I knew it, we would be REGION CHAMPIONS!  We had swept it!  Redemption, sweet redemption!



 One of my team moms had this picture done for us--I love it!

 Lindsey Bagley, one of my seniors, was chosen as our "Hero" award!

 Melissa Durtschi, Lindsey Bagley, Shalee Hiskey - All Region Team

 Lindsey Bagley, Shalee Hiskey, and Catherine Bladh - Academic All-Region Team

 Drill down winners - Brittney Peterson, 5th;  Jamie Topham 2nd;, and Melissa Durtschi 1st!

 The team received these cute cheetah print fleece blankets from the moms!  So cute!

 They recognized the coaches of each team before the awards.

Here we are with DeAnn Nielson, our assistant principal.

The next day at school, the TV Broadcasting class came in to interview the team.  Here we are posing for a picture after they came in to do the interview.

 

Region Drill was a success!  It is such a big relief to have over and even better to have it go so well!  It was so worth all of the stress and time!  It was especially fun because no one expected anything from this team.  We had kept everyone who tried out, they had received bad, rude comments from students that they were not going to be good this year, etc.  Anyway, it just goes to show that when a team is committed and they have great attitudes and they work so hard, good things can happen!

 

Preparing for Region and State

Well, like I said in my last post, I didn't want to let up on practices or working hard.  Region and State were just around the corner, and I wanted to WIN!  Sometimes I hate that I'm so competitive!  I wish I could just be content to do ok, but then, why would I coach a competition team?

 

Anyway, we had extra practices on Saturday and on Monday, January 21 when we didn't have school.  Well, for the Saturday practice on January 19, I don't think I set my alarm.  All I know, is that my phone was ringing at 6:15 a.m. and I saw that it was Madeline Froerer, the secretary of my drill team, and I thought, oh no, I've slept in!  Which I had!  Then I thought, oh no, are they all outside freezing because no one would be there on a Saturday!  But, just my luck, a custodian was there to make sure the walks and parking lots were cleared of snow, so he let them in!  I got up fast and brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes and a hat and headed to the school.  This is the site I walked into:

 Laying in the hallway waiting for me!  I'm just glad it wasn't a school day and that they were able to get inside the school!

 

Well, I had been thinking of taking them something for breakfast that morning, just because we had been working so hard.  But, when I slept in, I said to Scott, we need to make them breakfast this morning!  So, he came over and we made them waffles for breakfast.

 Breakfast for the team--especially when the coach sleeps in!

 They were very excited and happy for breakfast!

 They deserved it too--we had been working hard!

 

Our next practice was on Monday, January 21, Martin Luther Day, so no school that day.  Kneaders had just opened recently in Spanish Fork, so the girls decided to all meet for breakfast after our practice that day.

 Kneaders!  It was pretty busy--the french toast is delicious!

 Another fun breakfast after a great practice!

 I had been doing my annual Region/State countdown.  This year I used keys.  Each day was a new key to help them be successful at Region and State. 

 Teamwork was the key today--they had to work together and figure out what the sugar cookie letters spelled!

They did it!  It spelled MMHS Elleves Unlock Our Potential and Soar at Region!

 

We were ready and Region was in a few days!  

Murray Classic Drill Team Competition

On January 12, 2013 was our last invitational drill team competition, the Murray Classic Drill Team Competition.  It was a big competition and a long day! 

 

The team did good!  We placed 1st in Hip Hop, meaning this routine had won 1st place at every competition this year!  We were 3rd in Military, 3rd in Dance, and 1st in Kick.  When it came time to announce the over all 4A winner, I thought for sure it would be Mountain Crest because they had taken 1st in Military, 1st in Dance, and 2nd in Kick.  But the announcer said, "and the overall 4A winner is, Maple Mountain".  I looked over at the Mountain Crest coach, because she was sitting down a little bit from where I was sitting, and said,"I think they meant Mountain Crest?"  "Do they have the wrong mountain?"  :)  My team was confused too!  I think the audience was a little bit as well.  So the announcer had to let us all know that the award is based on your three highest scores, so we must have had higher scores than Mountain Crest!

 The team with our trophies!

We also had three girls place in the drill down--Bryn Starkey won 4th place, Jourdyn Reid won 1st place, and Shalee Hiskey won 2nd place.

 

We had beaten everyone in our region again.  All of the teams (four of us) from our region competed at the  Murray Classic.  So, I felt confident as our next competition was Region.  But, this is how I had felt last year, so I didn't let up.  We kept working hard and pushing ourselves to the limit!

Back to School - New Year

Well, Christmas Break was over.  It was so short this year!  Oh well.  All good things must come to an end right?

 

We only had two weeks left in the first semester.  I sometimes wish the semester ended before Christmas because it is hard to come back and try to "pick up" where we left off.  It would be easier to start fresh, but the schedule doesn't work that way.

 

On January 7, 2013, we had our annual Social Dance Parents Night.  This year I held it in the auditorium just because there were some conflicts with the main gym.  It worked out pretty good.  I like being able to use entrances and exits and the stage lighting. 

 

My classes did great and I had the drill team perform their kick routine.  They looked great too!  I was very proud of my classes. 

 

We ended up having more "b days" than "a days" after the parent night show.  So, my b-day social dance class asked if they could make waffles.  I thought, waffles?  But there was a couple girls willing to plan it out and class members offered to help bring all of the ingredients.  So, I said sure, since that class was having to meet in the cafeteria.

 Making waffles!

The two girls that offered to plan it all and they cooked too!  Their names are Summer and Madison.

 

It ended up being a lot of fun and everyone loved the waffles.  I was glad I gave them the "ok" to do it.  Maybe it will become a tradition--I guess as long as I have students that want to do it and help!