On February 21st, the UHS Dance Team hosted and participated in the sixth annual Battle of the East Side Dance Competition. The event took place from 7 PM to 9 PM in the UHS gymnasium. After facing off against Colonial High and Timber Creek, UHS scored second place, with Timber Creek coming in first place once again, continuing their six-year winning streak.
The competition, was also a fundraising event for lung cancer, “UHS scored second place, while we got about 250 in attendance and we raised a total of 1,400 dollars,” stated Mr. Ritchie, sponsor of the dance club. The team has spent the past few months training for this competition and putting the finishing touches on their performance. “We prepared for months, just complete running down, drilling, formations. A lot of creative minds flowing and stuff just like that. But we learned that we just need to prepare a little bit earlier, it’s a lot of hard work- consistency is a big thing,” commented captain of the UHS dance team, junior Zaneta Barker.
Despite their loss to Timber Creek, UHS and Colonial left satisfied with their performance. “I think the Colonial people were very enthusiastic, and at the end, we all made a circle and started dancing all together, so it was like we all won in the end,” said sophomore Zarai Vera, member of the UHS dance team. This competition also honored the team’s graduating seniors Charley Enright, Samaris Stewart, and Neah-Nalani Coleman, celebrating their final competition with the girls.
