Tears, hugs for teammates, screams out of happiness, and embracing the seniors: This is how freshman Addison Stewart and sophomore Gizelle Boyzo described the CUC dance team after winning Concordia Invitational Tournament for the first time in school history.
Head Coach Dirvelys Allen said, “It proved what our team already believed.”
CIT has taken place annually for 72 years. This was the eighth season of a dance competition being a part of CIT.
The tournament consists of Concordia Wisconsin, Concordia Nebraska, Concordia Ann Arbor, and Concordia Chicago competing in men’s and women’s basketball, cheer, and dance.
Collegiate dance performances are scored based on several criteria, including uniformity, the quality of movement, musicality, choreography, staging, and overall performance. CUC’s final score of 57.70 bested second place Concordia Wisconsin’s score of 55.37.
“We had the right mixture of returning dancers and strong new athletes,” Allen said. “We didn’t have to work on the basics or fundamentals. Our first years hit the ground running”.
The CUC dance team boasts a roster of 22 girls with only eight freshmen, meaning a majority of the team has competition experience.
“This team is a lot closer which makes us fight for that trophy even harder,” Boyzo said.
The dance team has two upcoming tournaments. They hosted five other college dance teams at the Cougar Winter Collegiate Dance Invite on February 23, where the Cougars took first place. “We are using this win as momentum,” Allen said. “We are enjoying the win now, but also relying on our work to keep going.”
Cougars will then host another invite on March 16 before traveling to Milwaukee on March 30. However, the Cougars have a much bigger goal at the back of their mind.
“We want to win nationals, but placing top three for pom and team performance is a big goal for us,” said Allen. For the fourth straight season, the dance team has qualified for the National Dance Alliance championship tournament on April 9 -13 in Daytona, Florida. In 2023, they finished fourth in the poms category.
As of this year, this was their first finals qualification in the young season. Coach Allen said, “This team is working at a standard,” Allen said. “We have strong captains and good leadership.”
CIT will be facing some changes in the future, as Concordia Ann Arbor is shutting down its athletics program, and Concordia Wisconsin has opted to discontinue participating in the tournament. However, after a break next year, CUC and CUNE have agreed to work together going forward for CIT.
