The competition continues to heat up as the Dazzlers contended with  eight other schools, including two other Granite Ridge Conference dance teams. All three of the conference teams were in the thick of things with Zimmerman outscoring both Becker and Albany despite the Becker team’s best performances this season.

 

“We went into this competition knowing that the scores could be very close,” said Head Coach Laura Anderson. “Two days earlier, we placed just ahead of Zimmerman in jazz and they just edged us in kick.”

 

Saturday, Zimmerman  scored ahead of Becker in all varsity and JV kick and jazz events while Albany outscored the varsity kick and jazz squads where just two days ago the Dazzlers placed higher than Albany in the two events.

 

“Just two days ago our scores overall were higher than today  and our performances were significantly stronger at the Rocori competition,” said Anderson. “The difference in scores speaks to the subjectivity of the judges and makes it challenging to determine what enhancements to make to the routines to improve scores. ”

 

The scores in the Albany meet were 51.12 for jazz and 64.4 for kick as compared to Saturday’s scores of 49.6 (jazz) and 54.6 (kick).

 

“Our girls performed solidly and probably gave the strongest performance in kick of the season,” said Coach Julie Baloun. “We continue to clean our routine to improve our scores and it is evident that our Granite Ridge Conference competition is doing the same.” 

 

Becker will be competing against Albany again this Saturday at the Monticello Invitational. 

 

“The competition will be stiff in Monticello, as we will be competing against local rivalries in Big Lake, Buffalo and the Magic as well as Pequot Lakes, Bemidji, Melrose, Pine City and Richfield,” Baloun said.

 

On a high note, the JV jazz team continues to place in the top spots when they recorded a second place spot behind Zimmerman. The JV kick team earned a fifth place spot.

 

“The girls have done an outstanding job with a jazz routine that really demands some of the skills and technique that many varsity routines have,” said JV Coach Bridget Teigland. “Their stage presence is very strong and this is reflected in our scores.”

 

1). 1) Sartell; 2). Rocori; 3). Sauk Rapids; 4). Zimmerman; 5-TIE). Albany — Becker; 7). Alexandria; 8). New London-Spicer; 9). Melrose.

 

1). Sartell; 2). Sauk Rapids; 3). Rocori; 4). Alexandria; 5). Zimmerman; 6). Albany; 7). Becker; 8). New London-Spicer; 9). Melrose.

 

1). Zimmerman; 2). Becker; 3). Albany; 4). Pierz; 5). BBE.

 

1). Sauk Rapids; 2). Rocori; 3). Zimmerman; 4). Alexandria; 5). Becker; 6). Melrose; 7). New London-Spicer; 8). Pierz.