The varsity poms dance team finished 10th out of 30 teams at IHSA State Finals this weekend.

“It was a lot of hard work but we all supported and pushed one another to not give up,” Faye Werksman, freshman, said. “Being able to reach our team goal, making it to State, was a great achievement.”

The team finished 6th in their sectional hosted by Grayslake North last Saturday and qualified to compete on Day 1 on Friday. They finished 10th out of 30 teams to qualify to Finals on Saturday, then finished 11th overall in the State.

“The road to State was difficult and time consuming but always worth it in the end. We’ve overcame a lot as a team this year but everyone came together to achieve our goal of making it to state,” Anna Lubera, senior captain, said. “I think we did exactly what we came to do at state, and that was to have fun and make memories as a team. Our 2A division was extremely competitive this year and we were happy to have placed amongst the top 10 teams in the state.”

While State may be over, the Poms team will be traveling to Orlando in the next couple weeks to compete at Nationals. While State is hosted by the IHSA, Nationals is hosted by UDA in Disney World Resort in Orlando Florida. Werksman also hopes to improve and qualify for State next year with her team.

“Next year we really want to repeat the same thing we did this year,” Werksman said. “Just to work our fullest potential, support and push one another, and make the school proud.”