By Ken Hansard
On February 14-16, the Carthage High Royal Tigerettes dancers travelled to Orlando, Florida for the Dance Team Union National Championships. The Tigerettes placed eighth overall nationally in the Spirit Showdown Rally Dance and finished eleventh in the nation in the Varsity Open. Coach Melanie Perkins spoke of the Carthage squad’s experience in Orlando, “Nationals was a great experience for our team. Getting to compete against teams from across the country was an awesome and exhilarating challenge. Bringing our ‘small town’ team to a huge competitive stage like DTU Nationals and watching them hold their own was very exciting!”
The team concluded its competition season at the Missouri State Championships on February 22 at Family Arena in St. Louis. At the state championships, the Tigerettes were awarded third place in the Division 5 Mix category. They were also recognized as the GPA Winner, the Academic All-State Team for Division 5, with a remarkable average GPA of 3.99.
When asked about her feelings now that the season is a wrap, Coach Perkins replied, “I am extremely proud of this team. They worked hard all year and accomplished so much. Dance takes a special combination of artistry, athleticism, and dedication. Success in dance team involves so much coming together and working as a team. I am happy with the success that these dancers had in competitions, but I am even more proud of their teamwork.”
Even though the competition season has ended for this school year, Coach Perkins added that their work is never truly finished, and in fact, “Tryouts for the 2025-2026 Dance Team will be held the week of April 21. Students interested in learning more about the team and tryouts should attend an informational meeting Wednesday, April 9th. “
Team members who competed for the Tigerettes this season were as follows: senior Ambree Hoover; juniors Haysia Osborne, Laney Wilson, Serenity Cross, and Violet Turner; sophomore Havyn Thayer; freshmen Payton Fewin, Adelaide Peters, Brooklyn Lasley, and Scarlett Colbert.
Coach Perkins finished with the following message about her graduating team captain, senior Ambree Hoover, “We will greatly miss our senior captain, Ambree Hoover, but we are also thrilled that she will be continuing her dance team career as a Missouri State Sugar Bear.”
