By Alexandria Martinez

The Lane Tech Dance Team has been hard at work this year perfecting their routines in order to compete in the Illinois Drill Team Assosiation (IDTA) State Competitions.

It finally paid off for them on Saturday, March 17. The Dance Team competed in two categories: hip-hop and kickline, winning 5th place in kickline and placing in the top ten division for hip-hop. This is the first time the Dance Team has won any awards at State.

Still, most of the girls on the team believe they do not get enough credit for the athleticism needed to compete in Dance.

Dance Team captain, Kasey Chronis, Div. 251, thinks Dance is long overdue for some respect.

“As of yet the IHSA (Illinois High School Association) has not recognized dance as a sport,” Chronis said. “However, next year, it will be considered a sport and the IHSA will be holding competitions.”

With aspirations to become a professional dancer, Michelle Zabierowski, Div. 375, agrees with Chronis’s sentiments.

“I take dance really seriously, and when people brush off our hard work like it’s not a big deal, it’s like a slap in the face,” Zabierowski said.

Eesle Koh, Div. 255, agrees.

“Just like other people are passionate about their sports, we’re really passionate about dance,” Koh said. “It’s said that ‘if you can get injured, it’s a sport.’ Well, we get hurt quite frequently, so dance is definitely a sport.”

Alexis Catibog has had to correct people who do not think dance is a sport.

“When the dance team went to take yearbook pictures, we were about to sit down on chairs set up in the room when the photographer told us to get up because those seats were for ‘sports teams’,” Catibog said. “I yelled out ‘Dance is a sport team!’…it just gets me so worked up.”

Considered a sport or not, the LTDT girls are proud of how far they made it this year, adding yet another award to “the School of Champions.”