Senior Maddie Musgraves led the varsity dance team in a successful weekend at the Jenison Invitational by earning first place in her contemporary solo. As a whole, FHC took first place in the Pom category, as well as second place in both Hip Hop and Jazz. The dancers also received the best costume award in the entire competition for their Jazz dance.

Seven total soloists competed for the Rangers, most of which performed contemporary dances. Sophomore Julia Kirkman, however, showed her unique talents by performing a tap solo. Three other dancers, in addition to Maddie, were able to place in the top-five for their solos. Freshman Abby Drueke was able to earn fifth place in her high school solo debut. Junior Joelie Havey secured fourth place, and senior Alyssa Zadel earned third. Senior Rielly Nehls was scheduled to perform a solo, but she unfortunately was injured during the group Pom dance earlier in the competition.

The dance team showed bounds of improvement from its last competition two weeks ago at the Kenowa Hills Invitational. The Rangers will compete again next Saturday at the St. John’s Invitational. The host team, St. John’s, won Grand Champs at the Kenowa Hills Invitational, so it is a very difficult dance program to compete against. In four weeks, the varsity dance team will head to NDA Nationals in Florida, where the dancers are hoping to place higher than ninth, which is where they fell two years ago the last time they attended. The upcoming competition and home basketball game performances are in preparation for the all-important Nationals.