On winning streak, Sabres reach record

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

During a phenomenal winning streak, the Sartell Sabre Dance Team succeeded in maintaining the nearly impossible: a perfect winning streak in three consecutive conference meets.

That’s two perfect performances at each meet, a grand total of six first-place showings, a feat which has never been achieved by any dance team in the 30-year history of the Central Lakes Conference.

The Sabres triumphed at the Jan. 15 CLC Championship Conference meet held at Sartell High School. Their winning streak continued as they took tops in both the Class AA high-kick and jazz/funk categories.

“It was historic,” said Kelly McCarney, head coach for the Sabres. “We’d won the CLC championship before, but this year we managed to win first at every single conference meet, all three of them, and that means six performances – three of high-kick and three of jazz – were first-place wins. That’s so hard to do because the teams in the CLC are all so strong. We knew it was going to be a tough job.”

The 37-member dance team is now poised to keep winning at further competitions. Such a winning streak has never happened for the Sabres before, much less any other teams, even though the Sabres have danced exceedingly well throughout the years, earning the statewide high-kick championship last year.

At the Jan. 15 CLC championship meet, the Sabres earned 5 ranking points for jazz/funk, out-dancing St. Cloud Tech with 6 points and Brainerd with 12 points. In high-kick, the Sabres won with 4 ranking points, winning over Brainerd with 9 and Tech with 12.

Other teams competing were Sauk Rapids-Rice (fourth with 15 points), Alexandria, Cold Spring Rocori, St. Cloud Apollo and Willmar. Along with Sartell-St. Stephen, Brainerd and Tech, those are the nine teams, along with Fergus Falls (not competing this year), that comprise the CLC dance programs. The CLC was formed in 1975 and officially began in the 1977-78 school year.

After their CLC championship win, the very next day the Sabres competed in a varsity invitational meet vs. Totino-Grace in Fridley. The Sabres placed first in high-kick, second in jazz/funk.

“Totino-Grace,”McCarney said, “is one of the top teams in the state. It was a good experience to compete against such a team that is so good and that is not in our (CLC) conference.”

The two award-winning Sabres dance routines include a high-kick performance to a song entitled Holla, which is a medley of songs by singer Missy Elliot and a jazz dance to a high-powered emotional song entitled Ricochet, which is an intricate dance with lots of turns, leaps and jumps.

“It is the strongest jazz dance team we’ve ever had in Sartell,” McCarney said. “Teamwork is what we stress the most. When that teamwork comes together, it’s all very powerful. That comes from the practice they do two-and-a-half hours every day. It’s the result of hard work, dedication and determination.”

The Sabres, McCarney said, are confident and eager for more competition in the coming weeks. On Saturday, Jan. 23, they will compete at the season’s final invitational meet, this one at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights. Then, on Saturday, Jan. 30, they will compete in the Section 4AA meet at Cold Spring Rocori High School. There will be 14 teams competing in the sectional meeting, and the top three winners will go on to state championship competition at the Target Center on Feb. 12-13.

Honors

Nine Sabre dancers were singled out for CLC honors recently. They are: Maiah Cameron, all-conference honors for high-kick and jazz; Alyssa Brix, honorable mention for jazz; Katchen Haehn, honorable mention for high-kick; Kira Haglen, all-conference honors for high-kick and jazz; Sydney Lloyd, all-conference honors for high-kick; Taylor Regnier, all-conference honors for high-kick; Macy Senn, honorable mention for high-kick; Hannah Wohletz, all-conference honors for high-kick and jazz; and Hannah Yackley, all-conference honors for high-kick.