By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
Most of this past weekend is likely a blur for the Waterford Union High School Varsity Dance Team. It’s good to know the great, big trophy the team won will forever refresh their memory.
The Wolverines returned home with a trophy after winning the Wisconsin Association of Cheer and Pom Coaches Division 2 state pom title at the WACPC State Dance Championships Saturday in LaCrosse.
It is the Wolverines’ first WACPC state title in six years of competition. It is Waterford’s first state title of any kind since winning the WIAA Division 2 state gymnastics title in 1991.
“We can compete with the best of the best and prevail,” Wolverines coach Deanna Schicker said.
Schicker is one of the owners of Foursis Dance Studio in Rochester. Several members of the team dance at Foursis and other area studios.
Waterford finished with 436.5 points. Green Bay Southwest finished a close second with 430.5 points. Schicker said Southwest won a state title in at least one event in each season since 1998 before the Wolverines’ win.
“I think the most humbling thing, for me, is not one of my girls expected it,” Schicker said. “They reacted so genuinely, just crying and crying. They never thought it was theirs, they never thought it was in the bag. They were overcome with emotion and happiness.”
Twenty-eight girls performed the team’s pom routine at state to a mix of “Get Up” and “Pump up the Jam” by Technotronic. The routine is slightly more than two minutes in length.
Waterford competed at 5:15 p.m. and waited until the award ceremony at 9:30 p.m. to learn the results. Schicker said only the top five finishers are announced. Even when Southwest was announced in second place a chance existed the Wolverines finished sixth or lower.
Schicker said the team sat in the middle of the gym floor, held hands and waited, and let loose a barrage of screams and tears when they learned they won a state title.
“You just don’t believe it for a second,” Schicker said. “It was just surreal. I don’t remember walking up to the stage. I just remember hugging all the girls, and lots of tears.”
The victory rippled through dance team alumni and parents of dance team alumni. Numerous tributes from both groups appeared on the dance team’s Facebook page.
“We’re a family,” Schicker said. “They feel like they can always come back. We’ve always said we know that the previous years got us to this moment.”
Video of the state title-winning routine is available on the team’s Facebook page, which is found using the search term “Waterford Varsity Dance.”
The Wolverines advanced to state out of a WACPC regional event Jan. 30 at Watertown High School. They won the regional pom title for the fourth straight year. Waterford competes in the WACPC’s Southern Regional, which is the largest, in number of schools, of the WACPC’s three regions.
Waterford Varsity Dance is also one of the Southern Lakes Conference’s more historically dominant programs. The Wolverines won their sixth straight conference dance title Jan. 9 at Union Grove High School. Dating to the 2008-2009 season Waterford Varsity Dance can claim seven of the last eight SLC titles.
Aside from the 2009-2010 season, when Union Grove won the conference title, Waterford is the winner of every conference title since the SLC assumed its current configuration in the 2009-2010 school year.
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