SEWARD, Neb. – A stretch of three-straight days with a competition continued on Thursday and Friday as the Concordia University Dance team ventured to the home sites of GPAC rivals Doane and Midland. The Bulldogs placed second in the triangular at Doane and then finished fifth out of six teams at the Midland Invitational. Head Coach Mandi Maser’s squad produced respective scores of 69.9 and 69.73 over the past two days.
Scores from triangular at Doane
1. Doane – 76.1
2. Concordia – 69.9
3. College of Saint Mary – 57.7
Midland Invite (Jan. 28)
5th place / 6 teams (69.73)
The scores turned in by Concordia over the past two days represented significant improvement from the first two competitions at home – 63.85 and 63.55. Maser made mention of Aubrey Baumann and Katie Anderson as standouts from this week’s outings.
Said Maser of Thursday’s performance, “Dance improved their scores by six points compared to the previous competition. They performed with confidence and improved on execution of the scored skills. The dancers have a lot of heart, and you can tell when they perform. Our freshman did a great job, especially Aubrey Baumann. She has a ton of talent and continues to impress us.”
Maser noted the following about Friday’s efforts, “Tonight we had a really tough competition. However, our athletes were resilient, prepared and competed well. The dance team was up against some very talented teams but didn’t let it affect them. Their focus was to improve their performance from the previous competition. We are really excited to continue to increase difficulty as soon as we are back in practice on Monday. Katie Anderson had another great competition today and continues to be a great leader for the team.”
The Concordia competition team on Thursday and Friday included the following student-athletes:
· Katherine Anderson (Columbus, Neb.)
· Aubrey Baumann (Chester, S.D.)
· Haleigh Fitzsimmons (Lincoln, Neb.)
· Kenna Holtzen (Stromsburg, Neb.)
· Madison Koch (Doniphan, Neb.)
· Avery Lewis (Seward, Neb.)
· Lizbeth Vargas-Tapia (Omaha, Neb.)
· Maddie Wittstruck (Milford, Neb.)
Next up will be the Bethel College Thresher Invite scheduled for Feb. 4-5 in North Newton, Kan. About the same time a year ago, Maser traveled the cheer and dance teams to Friends University in Wichita, Kan., for a unique duals competition.