2004 Year in Review

Pom Pon Squad headed to State Competition

Front Row L to R: Cameron Bierman, Jamie Ware, Katie Barnett
Middle Row: Stacy Belha, Stephanie Andersen, Monique Vos, Megan Goodenough
Back Row: Aimee Wagenecht, Britta Bartels, Mallory Navarra, Amy Drehmer

Try kicking your leg above your head, and then try it several times in a row. Now synchronize it with a person on both sides and lastly with nine other people in a line for three minutes. If you could practice this to perfection eight to ten hours per week you could be part of the Morrison Pom Pon Squad.

Last Saturday, March 6, the talented troupe won first place in the IDTA North Super Sectional. They also qualified for the State Competition on March 27 at the University of Illinois Assembly Hall, Champaign, Illinois.

This is a very experienced group. For the three senior girls (Britta Bartels, Amy Drehmer, and Megan Goodenough) this is their fourth and last trip to State. They have cinched the title every year during their high school career. One senior, Aimee Wagenecht, and two of the juniors (Stacy Belha and Mallory Navarra) have been part of the State Championship team for two years and junior Jamie Ware along with the two sophomores (Katie Barnett and Monique Vos) have won once. The only novice to the competition is sophomore Stephanie Andersen. Freshman Cameron Bierman is the alternate.

“I was pleased with the girls, they were awesome,” Coach Luanne Navarra said of their Saturday performance. “The girls were double-judged, two judges on execution and two on general effect. They critiqued the performance with an experienced and trained eye. Now we have three weeks to make the changes suggested.” Navarra takes a near perfect routine and revises it to be as close to perfection as humanly possible. At practice she will slow the tape down in accord with the judges critique to show the team the changes suggested. “I’ve already added seconds to the end of the music because a coach said she couldn’t hear the end of the song.”

There were 96 teams at the North Super Sectional and 168 performances in three classes but only about 100 advanced to State. Two other teams, Lisle Lionettes and Aurora Central Chargers, will move on with Morrison to the Class A Kick competition. March 13 there are two more Kick teams competing in the South Super Sectional (Carterville Lion’s Pride and Fieldcrest Dance Team).

Navarra and her daughter Emily choreograph the original routine for the girls to the music “This will be an Everlasting Love” by Natalie Cole. . Emily, a former Pon, will be going back to school in Florida for dance this summer.

The girls are excited. They start off the year with this goal for the end of the season. According to their coach, “They work hard and are always improving. The always do their best.”

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
March 10, 2004