Most high school sports have a season of a few months, but South dance practices hard all year long. According to junior Caitlin Lewis, “even over the summer we do conditioning together.”

Well all this hard work paid off at the Greenfield Central Invitational, which took place January 28th. At the competition there were four different categories the team competed in: Pom, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Ensemble. In these categories, the South team placed 1st, 3rd, 1st, and 1st respectively. Although an impressive showing, Lewis knows there’s still work to do: “The team has kept improving all year and we’re really focused on getting ready for state.” The state competition takes place on the first Saturday of spring break, and is the pinnacle of the season.

Lewis thinks one possible reason the team is able to stand out from their competition is that they have a boy on their team. Sophomore Eli Diersing, the one guy on the 16-member South dance team, is featured in many of their songs. Most other teams are all girls, which often makes Diersing the center of attention at meets, as Lewis attests with a laugh: “oh yeah, all the girls love him.”