(photos by Jim Lindquist)
The young FHS Dance Team didn't accomplish all of its goals but according to coach Shelby Kuphal the 2010-11 season was a rewarding one.
Farmington finished third in kick and sixth in jazz to capture fourth place in the Missota Conference competition and ranked seventh in kick and 11th in jazz at the Section 1AAA meet.
"The girls worked very hard to come as far as they did this year," Kuphal said. "They practiced three-and-a-half hours a day, four days a week with an occasional three-hour practice on Saturday. With all of that they still had to balance their homework, friends and family...They are now understanding the benefit of hard work and determination."
Twenty girls received varsity letters at the team's post-season banquet and only two were seniors: Madi Cook and Ashlye Mattei.
Underclassmen winning varsity monograms included juniors Kayli Rudeen, Shelby Schillerstrom, Alysha Stoeffel, Julie Tang and Nikki Webster; sophomores Alexis Bailey, Morgan Elliott, Ashley Fogarty, Cassidy Gerber, Megan Grengs, Chloe Halvorson, Cortney Hilton, Haley Luffman, Izzy Neal, Alexis Preese, Katie Wahl and Katie Zitzmann and freshman Annie Grengs.
Kuphal also recognized the season-long efforts of seniors Jeni Friedrich and Jerica Kamin; junior Kelsey Erickson; sophomores Kaitlyn Betzold and Emily Peetsch; freshman Rachel Mozey and eighth-grader Morgan Bass.
Team captains Cook and Mattei each landed a spot on the all-Missota Conference team while Stoeffel earned all-league honorable mention.
Cook claimed the team's Most Valuable Player award while Preese won "Most Improved" honors. Bass was the junior varsity MVP and Casie Doring the most improved dancer. Zitzmann won Rookie of the Year distinction and Stoeffel received the Tiger Award.
Kuphal recited a long list of team accomplishments, both on and off the floor, including finishing third in kick in the conference; moving up six places in kick in the section; gaining confidence in its jazz routines and winning Academic All-State recognition (team grade point average of 3.5 or higher).
Off the floor, the girls also conducted their first clinic for youth in grades one through eight; volunteered at Feed My Starving Children and wrapped gifts for the Toys for Town fundraiser.
"Our only disappointment was jazz," Kuphal said, "but we'll get there in time. We have been focusing on getting kick to the top and once we're there, we'll look to jazz."
With the team losing only four seniors to graduation, Kuphal said she is looking for more improvement next season.
"The girls need to work on their skills and technique in the off-season," she said. "If we want to be competitive in jazz we need to be confident in our higher level skills.
"We will continue to focus on kick technique next year and hopefully we'll see another jump at sections."
Though she loses only four dancers from this year's team, Kuphal said Cook, Mattei, Friedrich and Kamin will be difficult to replace.
"Their inner drive and hard work was commendable," she said. "You very rarely heard them complain. They set their minds to making the best out of their last year and they accomplished it."
