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Almost everyone who was there will tell you something was off, and it wasn’t necessarily the Wildcats. Performing in front of a packed Xcel Energy Center crowd last Friday, the Chisago Lakes Dance Team greeted the state tournament crowd with a dazzling routine. The performance was by no means perfect, however, it also wasn’t the worst of the day either, even though that’s where the judges rated them. Out of 12 teams “AA” teams in the jazz/funk competition, the ‘Cats placed 12th.

“As far as the girls, I thought they judged them okay,” said Angie Bennett, Chisago Lakes head Dance Team coach. “I thought some other teams got some gifts. I didn’t think the girls deserved 12th because some other teams made some way worse mistakes than we did, but I guess it’s just a matter of earning our wings. We need to show everybody that we aren’t a fluke, that we’ll be back.”

As soon as their routine was over, that was the goal; next year. While this season was good, 2004-05 is going to be even better, at least that’s the plan.

“We jumped right into next year. Before the meet was even over, the girls were working on moves for next year,” smiled Bennett. “The girls had just an awesome year. They placed in the top three in eight of the 10 meets, but this is only the beginning. We will be back.”

State Dance Team “AA” Meet

Jazz/Funk Team Results-

1. Benilde-St. Margaret’s/

St. Louis Park

2. Andover

3. Simley/Inver Grove Heights

4. Duluth East

5. Totino-Grace/Fridley

6. St. Cloud Cathedral

12. Chisago Lakes

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