by Dennis Dalman
Long-time Sartell Sabres Head Dance Coach Kelly McCarney was recently named as “Class 3A Coach of the Year” by the Minnesota Association of Dance Teams.
McCarney’s honor arrived in the wake of the Sabres Dance Team’s February triumph at Minneapolis Target Center where the team placed third in the Class 3A High Kick category, a dazzling performance that wowed the cheering audience.
It was McCarney who started the Sartell Sabres dance team in 2002. Along with hard-working and highly talented assistant coaches, she led the team to a long series of performance triumphs.
This is McCarney’s second award as Coach of the Year, the first being presented to her in 2018 at a time when the Sabres were competing in the Class 2A category. They had been competing in that category for many years until four years ago. In 2021, the Sabres won the Class 2A state championships for their performances in both High Kick and Jazz divisions.
McCarney is a 2001 graduate of St. Cloud Tech High School and a four-year member, choreographer and captain of that school’s Tigerettes’ dance team. As a dancer, she helped lead her team to a 1998 State Tournament second-place finish in the Class 3A High Kick division, as well as a Section Championship in 2001.
Kelly is now in her 23rd season as head coach of the Sabres. She started the dance program in Sartell in 2002. As head coach, she has helped lead the team to 20 consecutive state tournament appearances, including seven High Kick championships and one state Jazz championship.
McCarney works as a registered nurse at the CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital. She and her husband, Nick, have two children – daughter Reese and son Tyler.
MSHSL Classes
For the past four years, the Sabres were classified as a Class 3A team by the Minnesota State High School League. Before that they were a Class 2A team. Just recently the team was reclassified as a Class 2A team once again, starting in the next school year. The MSHSL bases its team classifications on enrollment numbers for each high school.
There are three class divisions as determined by the MSHSL: Class A, Class 2A and Class 3A. There are four section tournaments for each class in two divisions – High Kick and Jazz. There are four section tournaments for each class, and the winners at the sectional level then go on to state tournament competition.
Award-winning Sabres dance team head coach Kelly McCarney
