Dance Team: Warriors in contention at own invite

Despite a top-level field, the Brainerd Warriors secured a fourth in kick and a sixth-place in Jazz Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Brainerd Warrior Mega Meet at Brainerd High School.

"In varsity jazz, we felt we performed better on Saturday than Friday (Nov. 30) at the CLC Competition," Warrior head coach Cindy Clough said. "Improving each day is what we hope for, so we were very pleased."

Brainerd earned 9.5 rank points in the kick category, which tied third-place Chaska, but fell by one point in the tiebreaker 389-388. Eastview won the kick with 4 rank points and 416 total points. Wayzata was second.

Wayzata took home gold in jazz with Eastview falling to second and Chaska remaining in third. Brainerd was just one rank point behind fourth-place Eden Prairie and fifth-place Spring Lake Park

"In jazz, it was as close as a flip of a coin," Clough said. "We had more total points than fifth-place. So we were up there. Teams in fourth, fifth and sixth were all one rank point apart, which is close. We feel encouraged as our scores are getting up there.

"Our invite seems to have drawn the best teams in the state with Eastview, Wayzata, and Chaska all being state finalists last year and Eden Prairie one place out of finals. So it was a very competitive meet. We like to see the toughest teams in the state because it pushes us early on."

In the class 1A division, Crosby-Ironton placed second in jazz and third in kick.

"We performed a lot cleaner than even two weeks ago at Delano so we're happy with both routines," C-I head coach Amy Lundgren said. "Our jazz has really come along and we are excited to see that our scores have come up quite a bit."

Aitkin earned first in kick and the Pequot Lakes Patriots took fifth in kick and third in jazz.

The Pierz Pioneers placed fourth in kick and the Pine River-Backus Tigers finished sixth in kick.

Jazz: 1-Wayzata (3 rank points, 441 total), 2-Eastview (6 rank points, 428 total), 3-Chaska (9.5 rank points, 389 total), 4-Eden Prairie (15 rank points, 375 total), 5-Spring Lake Park (15 rank points, 384 total), 6-Brainerd (16 rank points, 382 total)

Brainerd Jazz Skills- Technique of turns 36, Technique of Leaps and Jumps 37

Choreography- Creativity 40, Visual effectiveness 41,

Difficulty-Routine Choreography 39, Formations and Transitions 38, Skills 41,

Execution- Placement and control-35, Degree of Accuracy 34, Routine Effectiveness 41

Kick: 1-Eastview (4 rank points, 416 total), 2-Wayzata (7.5 rank points, 402 total), 3-Chaska (9.5 rank points, 389 total), 4-Brainerd (9.5 rank points, 389 total), 5-Chanhassen (16 rank points, 369 total), 6-Spring Lake Park (21.5 rank points, 375 total)

Brainerd Kicks-Technique 38, Height 39

Choreography- Creativity-39, Visual Effectiveness-42, Difficulty-Routine Choreography 34, Formations/transitions 39, Difficulty of Kicks 40

Execution- Placement/control 39, Degree of accuracy 37, Routine Effectiveness 41

Class 1A Division

Jazz: 1-Duluth Denfeld 3, 2-Crosby-Ironton 6, 3-Pequot Lakes 9

Kick: 1-Aitkin 3, 2-Duluth Denfield 7.5, 3-Crosby-Ironton 7.5, 4-Pierz 12, 5-Pequot Lakes 15, 6-Pine River 18

Junior Varsity

JV Kick: 1-Eastview, 2-Eden Prairie, 3-Chaska, 4-Wayzata, 5-Chanhassen, 6-Brainerd

JV Jazz: -1-Wayzata, 2-Eastview, 3-Eden Prairie, 4-Chaska, 5-Chanhassen, 6-Brainerd

For more photos go to https://bit.ly/2FVgDLA .