Dance Team: Brainerd hopes it's peaking at right time

With two weeks between the Section 4-3A and Class 3A state meets, Brainerd Warriors coach Cindy Clough had her team perform in a show during the interim to stay sharp and keep its momentum.

Clough will see how much the show helped when Brainerd competes in the 3A state jazz meet Friday and the 3A state kick meet Saturday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

"I feel we peaked at a good time, but we are still fine-tuning all aspects of our performance," she said. "Coaches and athletes watch a lot of film at this time of year trying to figure out where to get a few more points. If you look at the points teams were awarded at sections, it would put us in fourth place (at state). The teams ahead of us were Eastview, Wayzata and Lakeville North. We can't put too much stock in that however, other than to feel good about the fact that we are up there.

"I have been around long enough to know the points can flip between prelims and finals, so we can't get too excited or too comfortable. The points are typically so close together that you really have to be on your game."

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State jazz tournament

• Friday, Feb. 17
• Target Center, Minneapolis
• Aitkin, Crosby-Ironton in Class 1A qualifying 11:30 a.m. Class 1A finalists announced 1:15 p.m. Brainerd in Class 3A qualifying 2 p.m. Class 3A finalists announced 4:45 p.m. Class 1A finals 5:30 p.m.
• Class 3A finals 7:15 p.m.

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At Forest Lake, Brainerd won the section kick title.

"We feel we need to beef up difficulty on some kick sections, adding some harder movements," Clough said. "That is one thing we focused on this week. Kick timing here and there is crucial so we will be working on that.

"We also worked at consistently putting up high kicks rather than random lower kicks here and there. That can be a memory thing, an endurance issue or that athletes are leading into the next thing so rehearsing consistency is important."

The Warriors finished third in jazz at the section meet.

"We will keep working on timing and force of movement of our arms," Clough said. "Arm timing with this slow of a song is tough. Also getting jumps and leaps higher. Our athletes are able to get the height when they are doing them outside the routine, but sometimes they are not high enough when we run the whole routine. We will also keep honing in on turn timing and individual confidence."

Clough said the Warriors also have continued working on their spacing on the floor.

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State High Kick Tournament

• Saturday, Feb. 18
• Target Center
• Aitkin, Crosby-Ironton in Class 1A qualifying 11:30 a.m. Class 1A finalists announced 1:15 p.m. Brainerd in Class 3A qualifying 2 p.m.
• Class 3A finalists announced 4:45 p.m. Class 1A finals 5:30 p.m.
• Class 3A finals 7:15 p.m.

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"This is a huge area of the score sheet," she said. "We got into the college gym (last) weekend and needed to get in there again (Thursday). Moving from the high school to the college is a big change in terms of spacing as the lines are different. They are even different at the Target Center."

Clough said her coaching staff is composed of state tournament veterans, but the dancers are relatively inexperienced.

"Only four have made it to state finals and many of them have not seen the state floor," she said. "We are trying to do a lot of mental imagery to prepare them.

"We are preparing them for all that is different at state. Other teams watch your (practice run through) which is different than at typical meets. The days are long and pressure-filled (at state). When you go in jazz and kick, it is two long days so you have to make sure they do not get too tired out for the kick meet. There's a big screen above you and it can sidetrack your brain so you have to rehearse seeing it. Fan frenzy and hype can take away their focus so we have to rehearse that, too."

Aitkin seeks fourth-straight title

Aitkin is pursuing its fourth-straight kick title and sixth in eight years. In all, Aitkin has won the kick state title eight times and the state jazz competition once.

"Any team can win on any day and we never underestimate any team," Aitkin coach Lisa Roth said. "We have prepared for this tournament by working hard every day and giving it our all.

"We never discuss that we are defending a title. Instead we are working hard to get our best performance of the year-control what we can control and that's our performance."

Aitkin, which won the kick and jazz titles at the Section 4-1A meet, has qualified for state 15 times in kick and 11 times in jazz.

C-I three trips in 4 years

Thirty years ago, the Crosby-Ironton dance team made school history by being the first team to win a state title. Current C-I coach Amy Turk was a freshman on that team and is now headed to the Target Center this weekend for the third time in four years as the team's coach.

"I also coached in the 90s and the way dance has evolved through the years is amazing," Turk said. "There's a higher skill level, immense creativity and competitiveness, but the excitement level of being at state is just as incredible."

C-I finished third in kick, fourth in jazz at the Section 4-1A meet.

"We've been busy since sections polishing and really perfecting every single detail," Turk said. "The girls have worked hard all season conditioning and continuing to change the routine to peak at this time. It's such a team sport that you can't have just one or two standouts to be good."