On Nov. 18, the 12 members of the PCM Dance Team traveled to Wells Fargo Area to compete in the 2021 Iowa State Dance Championships. The girls competed in 3 routines in the team competition, consisting of Class IV Hip-hop, Class II Novelty, and Class VII Pom. They also had 6 soloists competing in the Class IV solo division. 

Usually, the team and solo competitions are separate events, but due to COVID-19 ISDTA (Iowa State Dance & Drill Team Association) decided to make changes to the event. Combining the two competitions was a major change but many other differences occurred. 

The crowd is a big part of the team competition, however, due to Gov. Kim Reynolds’s announcement, two days prior to the event, only 2 spectators per athlete were allowed to attend. Dancers were also not able to stay and watch after performing and other days. 

 In normal years the competition is held over the course of two days with a large awards ceremony at the end of the night. However this year it was simply not safe to hold an awards ceremony with all the teams down on the floor like normal. Instead, the competition decided to host a virtual awards ceremony on Dec. 5. 

With awards being virtual, the coaches and other school officials figured out a way for all the girls to watch together safely. On Dec. 5 the PCM Dance girls all got together at Copper Creek Theater to watch the ceremony in a private theatre. The team arrived and anxiously waited for the live stream to start, the first results announced were the outcomes of the solo competition.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the team was awarded the Distinguished Academic Achievement, which is only awarded to teams with an average GPA of 3.5- 4.00. 

Next, the team was thrilled to learn all six soloists received a superior division 1 rated performance, along with Senior, Bess Telfer placing 10th overall. 

Later was the team results. The team placed 2nd in Hip-hop and 2nd in Novelty along with superior division 1 ratings. Finally, the last award for the PCM Dance Team was given. The team screamed in excitement to bring home a 1st place win and superior division 1 rating in Pom. This was extra special to the girls because the PCM has not won the Pom category in 6 years.