Senior Eaglette captain Ava Kiefer was sitting on the gym floor with her team waiting in anticipation for the results of their performances. For every award announced, the team did one clap to save time when celebrating. When it was announced the RHS Eaglettes won third runner up for the best overall award, the team couldn’t contain their excitement and broke into a round of applause.

“It [felt] so bittersweet because as a senior it was my last competition,” Kiefer said. “But I feel like we did go out with a bang.”

The Eaglettes competed in the annual Celebration Dance Showcase and won third runner up for the best overall award as well as the Sweepstakes award for scoring above 90 in all four team routines.

Eaglette coach Christina Hinchey said she’s very proud of how well the team did.

“We always go [to the competition] so we have an opportunity to push ourselves and challenge ourselves,” Hinchey said.

Junior Eaglette Emely Carbajal said it was very rewarding to get what they worked so hard for.

“It is very exciting for us every year,” Carbajal said.

The team competed against more than 50 schools and performed routines ranging from Jazz and Lyrical to Kick and Hip Hop.

Senior Eaglette captain Ava Kiefer said she felt confident performing because she had a lot of practice, but it’s always a little nerve wrecking.

“This was my third competition so I felt like I knew pretty much what was going on, but [I’m] always a bit nervous,” Kiefer said.

According to Kiefer, this was the biggest competition the team has ever attended and a lot of the Eaglettes were nervous since it was their first time competing. She makes sure to set a good example by not showing her nervousness.

“That way it didn’t rub off on anybody else and just made sure everybody felt safe and confident and comfortable to do our best,” Kiefer said.

Hinchey said the team normally does three routines but this year, they decided to add an elite kick routine.

“That was fun,” Hinchey said. “We scored really well on that.”

Carbajal said the kick routine was the hardest to perform because it takes a lot of stamina.

“We only had like two other schools running against it, so we wanted to make it look good,” Carbajal said.

The team had choreographers from the American Dance/Drill Team teach them the routines in December. After winter break, they clean up the dances and had early morning practices every day leading up to the competition.

“It does get a bit draining,” Kiefer said. “But knowing that we brought our best performances out there – It really did pay off.”

Carbajal said from the very moment they received their choreography, they practiced how they’re going to performing so they don’t have any regrets when performing in the competition.

Hinchey said this season was difficult to plan practices because the Eaglettes are so “cross-curricular.” There was scheduling issues with the pep rally, testing, bad weather and other activities.

She said they had to break down the choreography, delegate as much as possible and return back to their calendar every chance they could to make the most of their time.

She said the team stayed motivated and dedicated this season despite the challenges.

“It’s easy to to stay motivated when everybody has the same vision, and everybody is working towards the same thing with the same love for each other,” Hinchey said.

Kiefer said the Eaglettes do well in this competition every year because of the team’s drive and desire to put in effort.

“Our team culture is just really great,” Kiefer said. “And I think that’s part of what helps us do good.”