Central Oregonian

Sparkles win at Sprague

Dance team sets school scoring record in victory at dance festival

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAY FAHLGREN

The Crook County HIgh School Sparkles dance team displays their first place trophy from the Sprague Winter Dance Festival in Salem last Saturday. The Sparkles scored a school record 80.67 points in the win

Lon Austin

The Crook County High School Sparkles dance team has won their second consecutive dance tournament.

The Sparkles, who are the defending state champions, won the Sprague Winter Dance Festival last Saturday, and set a school-scoring record in the progress.

“The team has truly outdone themselves,” said head dance coach Amanda Estes. “It’s amazing to watch them grow from September up to now.”

The Sparkles score of 80.67 easily outdistanced second-place Lebanon who had 75.06 points. Silverton was third with 72.17 points while Crescent Valley finished fourth with a score of 62.89 and Liberty was a distant fifth after scoring 58.44 points.

“The girls danced amazing,” Estes said. “I told them to strive for bigger and better this year and it is obvious that we’re making progress. They have all worked harder than ever this season to achieve our goals. When they practice they really focus.”

Estes added that the state finals should be especially tough this season as some teams that traditionally compete in the 5A large division have moved down to the 5A small team division that Crook County competes in.

“Our competition is tough this year,” she said. “We gained two excellent, well -trained groups from the 5A large division and we won’t see either team until state. I am excited for the girls to be challenged.”

The Sparkles, who currently have the top-ranked dance team in the state, compete today at Dallas High School. The event is the final tune-up for the team prior to the state championships, which run March 19-20 in Portland.

“I don’t have any predictions who will take state,” Estes said. “It’s going to be close, but I do believe we will place in the top five, which is an achievement in itself. So anything more is simply icing on the cake.”