Lemont Poms squad again heads to Team Dance Illinois state competition

3/5/2010

Thanks to a pair of winning efforts in a competition at Andrew High School earlier this season, the Lemont High School Varsity Poms team will compete in this weekend’s Team Dance Illinois State Championship at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Ill. The squad will compete in both the Open Pom and Open Dance categories on Sunday, March 7.

Lemont, which is coached by Christie Klingsporn and Jenna Stevenson, competes at the Class AA level, and qualified for state competition with first-place finishes in both categories at Andrew on Sunday, February 14. The team will not only compete for the state title in each of its categories, but also for the title of State Grand Champion in its class, which is given to the team achieving the highest cumulative scores in state competition. Lemont is scheduled to compete in the Open Dance category shortly after 11 a.m., and in the Open Pom category at 2:30 p.m.

Teams may qualify for the State Championship in one of three ways: Automatic Bid, Placement Bid or Wild Card Bid. Lemont qualified for state competition in both categories with Placement Bids, meaning they finished in the top third of the competing teams at the event and achieved a score of at least 80. Automatic Bid status is achieved by scoring 88 or better, regardless of a team’s placement.

A complete list of state-qualifying teams is available on the Team Dance Illinois Web site, www.teamdanceillinois.org

Last year, Lemont finished 7th in Open Pom and 9th in Open Dance at the Team Dance Illinois State Championship.

Tickets for the Team Dance Illinois State Championship are $12 for adults, $8 for children ages 6-12, and free for children 5 and under. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Peoria Civic Center Box Office beginning at 6:45 a.m. on the day of the competition.

For more information, contact Director of School & Community Relations Tony Hamilton at (630) 243-3280, or visit the Team Dance Illinois Web site.