Last season, the Lyons Township High School varsity competitive dance team climaxed its streak of IHSA state meet appearances by reaching the finals and taking sixth in the Class 3A Division.

Adding unprecedented success proved to be no easy task.

In their eighth consecutive state appearance, the Lions persevered and finished seventh in state (93.07 points) after reaching the 12-team finals with the sixth highest preliminary score – a season-best 93.48.

They qualified by winning the Maine East Sectional with a then season-best 93.30 for the program’s first sectional championship.

“This year proved that we are making a name for ourselves in the IHSA dance world,” said junior Hayden Frazier.

“Making day two for the second year in a row and placing in the top seven teams showed us that last year wasn’t just luck. We are a really talented program and we hope to continue to grow and take home a state championship soon.”

Competing at state were seniors Anastasia Brown, Annie Ketchum, Nisha McGahey, Brooke Shurhay, Brooke Walsh, juniors Peyton Carmody, Nora Foley, Hayden Frazier, Brooke Manley, Maeve McCormack, Lucia Nemeth, Elizabeth Shorrock and Karina Singh and freshmen  Madison Carmody, Julia Dienes and Alexa Farmer.

Other team members are seniors Sydney Michalak, Leslie Moore, juniors Maddie Dienes, Alexis Jain, Greta Newlin, Samantha Sexton and Elaina Stoltz, sophomores Siena Giordano, Campbell McCarthy and Natalya Thompson and freshman Kassidy Powell.

Walsh, Michalak and Frazier are team captains. The Lions are coached by Brittany Smith, now in her eighth season.

“We are all so proud of our state performances.  It is not an easy feat making it to the state floor in 3A,” said Smith.

“Our scores continued to go up in our January competitions. Our sectionals and state scores were consistent and some of the highest our program has seen in the state series.”

The Lions continued their significant jump from recent state finishes of 22nd in 2023 (83.47), 23rd in 2022 (81.94) and 24th in 2021 (80.39).

And that was with only Ketchum, Michalak, Walsh, Foley, Frazier and Shorrock returning from last year’s team. The Lions also overcame key injuries along the way that put their competition lineups in jeopardy.

“The injuries and adversity we faced this season only made us stronger. Although stressful in the moment, we always came together as a team and had no doubts that we could still accomplish our goals,” said Frazier.

“This season more than ever, I will remember the people more than anything. It was not an easy year for the poms program and we wouldn’t have been able to make it through this year without each other. At the end of the day, win or lose, we loved each other the same and were always there for one another.”

The varsity also has had annual success in Illinois Drill Team Association competitions but is not competing this year. The Lions’ junior varsity also captured the unofficial JV state championship at Glenbrook South for the first time.

“We were really proud of both of our (IHSA) state performances. All of the small details that we had been working on throughout the whole season really came together,” Frazier responded.

“After watching the video back, it was amazing to see that every single moment of choreography was together and we danced like clones of each other.”
In Class 1A, Nazareth Academy finished 10th (86.10) after reaching the finals with the 10th best preliminary score (86.84).

Team members are seniors Emma Chiarito, Lia Jozwiak, Bella Madonia, Maria Nelson,

Georgia Panek and Rosaria Ricchio, juniors Elisa Drda, Violet Umbrasas, Lilly Baldwin,

Emma Calderon, Gabriella Imbarrato, Bea Keenan and Zoe Weiss, sophomores Norah Cassidy and Shaye Neville and freshmen Kassandra Carreno, Kiley Broderick, Olivia Caputo, Gianna Lavorato and Ivy Wiet. The head coach is Kristen Yarka and assistant coach is Kristi Przybylski.

Making their fourth straight state appearance and sixth in program history, the Roadrunners were ninth at 1A state in 2024 (84.68).