FEATHERS UP!
LFO dances its way to state runner-up finish in second competition season
Of all the trophies in the LFO High School trophy case, the most recent one is from one of the newest groups at the school.
The Red Feathers, the school’s dance team, is only in its second season of GHSA competition after being founded just a little more than four years ago. However, the squad has adapted to the world of competition dance pretty quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that LFO returned from Macon on Feb. 11 with the GHSA state runner-up trophy in the Class 3A/4A division. The Red Feathers also won the hip-hop category at the event.
Head coach Leann Maretti said she was thrilled at how well they did, although she, assistant coach Ellaina Wills and the dancers themselves knew the possibility and potential was there in the days leading up to the final competition of the season.
“Dance is truly my passion,” Maretti said. “I watched film and poured over the results and the scoresheets, comparing them to the frontrunners. The week before state, we realized that we had a really good shot at getting state runner-up, as long as we gave our best performance that day and the girls delivered.
“We were excited, but not shocked because I know ever girl believed that this was possible. I know I believed it and Coach Wills did too.”
Maretti said even when the program first began, she felt that becoming a state championship-caliber program wasn’t simply a pipe dream, adding that she has pushed her dancers to be the best they can be on the floor and in the classroom in pursuit of their passion.
“We talked a lot at the beginning
of the year about obligations and opportunity,” she said. “The obligations being what they needed to do as a team to accomplish their goals for the opportunity to win state.”
She added that choosing to only compete in one dance category instead of two allowed the team to be able to focus and fine-tune things even more. In addition to practices, which began back in October, the team also danced at halftime of home basketball games to get ready for the bright lights and big stage in Macon.
“(Those performances) really helped,” she added. “It allowed us to do our routine out there in front of an audience and it allowed us to work out any kinks in our
formations or anything that wasn’t quite working. Plus, it built our confidence.”
LFO returned just four members from last year’s squad that made their debut at state, but the team finished the regular season with three consecutive first-place finishes in competitions leading up to the state finals with its scores increasing a total of 18 points from the first competition to the last.
“It’s a very difficult thing to win (a state title) as a hip-hop team, which we didn’t do,” Maretti added. “Many times, pom teams will have higher scores because of the level of difficulty. But to be state runner-up (in our classification) as a hip-hop team is a huge accomplishment. It’s just a great group of girls, and although their were only four returners (out of 13), those four showed tremendous leadership and took those new members under their wings.”
Starr’s Mill, which won the jazz and pom
categories, was the overall Class 3A/4A state champion, while Thomasville won the high kick division.
Maretti said she is also excited about the future of the program. Lakeview Middle School, which already has a dance team, is planning on competing for the first time next season and each of the school’s feeder elementary programs have started spirit squads, all of which she said will help build the foundation of the program.
She added that while the entire team worked extremely hard this season, she thought the support from the entire LFO community, from the students to the other athletes to the coaches to the administration, truly gave the team the boost it needed.
“Just knowing that we have people behind us rooting for us and supporting us, I think really made a huge difference this year,” she said. “It’s what kind of pushed us over the hump.”