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Show Mandonelles defend national dance titles r , "t -w' . By G.BRETT HART Sports Editor ANAHEIM, Calif. The Bountiful High Mandonelles dance team successfully defended its national titles in the military and prop routines in the USA Nationals Dance and Drill Team Competition April 13 at Cypress College in Anaheim, Calif. Squaring off against 200 of the nation's top dance and drill teams from California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Texas, the Mandonelles Man-donelles claimed first with their military and prop routines and took second in the novelty and dance categories last Saturday. In 1990, the Bountiful High dancers came home with first place finishes in military, dance and prop and finishes second in novelty. Scoring was tallied on 100-point basis by a panel of four judges. The Mandonelles won the military routine with an average score of 97, followed by Roy High who finished second with a score of 96. In state competition earlier this year, the Bountiful and Roy teams were crowned the top 3A and 4A drill teams in the state. Saturday's appearance was the Royals' first in national competition. competi-tion. Bountiful's prop routine, which features intricate moves with jump ropes and unicycles (including jump-the-ropes on unicycles) won easily with a score of 97.5. Finishing in a tie for second place were Esperanza High School and Capital High School from California Califor-nia and Idaho, respectively. The two earned equal scores of 93. The Braves finished second behind Esperanza in the novelty routine category, in spite of the Mandonelles' show-stopping performance per-formance which earned them a standing ovation and an all-expense paid invitation to perform the routine May 10 in San Francisco from the director of the USA competition. com-petition. Bountiful's novelty routine revolves around an "Elvis Presley" theme and features stilts which continually con-tinually get taller throughout the number. Esperanza won the competition with a score of 98.17; the Mandonelles Man-donelles trailed by less than a quarter of a point with a score of 98 even. Esperanza High also edged the SEE BOUNTIFUL ON B-3 ' The Bountiful High School Mandonelles, under the direction of ! Jan Whittaker, claimed defended their national titles last Saturday in the USA Nationals Dance and Drill Team Championships in Anaheim, Calif. Bountiful CONTINUED FROM B-2 I ; Braves in the dance competition by I 1 half a point, 98.5-98. I j Veteran coach Jan Whittaker has I I been at the Mandonelles' helm for 10 years. Saturday's appearance in I the national event was Bountiful' s I third; the Braves also competed in j 1988, winning three first place I trophies. I Whittaker said the difference be- I tween her team and most others is I the amount of time the girls I 1 dedicate to perfecting their routines. I "Wc spend a lot of hours clean- I ing up the routines; I don't think I there's another team, that I know of, that puts in as much time as we do,' Whittaker said. I The Mandonelles, co-captained I by Bethany Brady and Denise I Haney, also have an active part in the choreography of their own I routines. I "I think it's become a tradition I here at Bountiful. The girls expect a I . lot of work going into it; they're I , willing to dedicate the time." I Time is definitely one thing the I j Mandonelles do dedicate to their I j team. The 18-member team, con- f j sisting of nine juniors and nine I j seniors, practices three hours a day, I j six days a week. I i "We peaked at nationals. The f j very best teams are there. A lot I comes down to different styles,' I Whittaker explained. I I "Each team is judged on their I routine, its difficulty, variety, ex- ecution, how clean it is, whether or i not there were any mistakes, the I : formations' straight lines, technique I ; and showmanship. I "But when you get down to it, I sometimes the routine kind of decides it; you can only get so I clean." I Whittaker explained that each I year's biggest challenge is coming up with new ideas. "Coming up with the new ideas I each year is the hard thing. People I always ask me, 'how are you going to top that'; I answer that I don't ! know, and we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I "The jump rope routine was the I hardest thing to clean; one little I mistake on the ropes definitely I shows. We started learning it in I August,' Whittaker said. I "Being invited to perform our Elvis routine in San Francisco was really a compliment. In fact, the girls were more excited about that than the first place trophy. That's got to be a first. "I honestly dreamed the whole thing. I wanted to do something with stilts, and I dreamed the routine. When I told girls about it, they thought I was crazy. ' 'The competition is getting tougher and tougher. It's been an in- I tense year. The girls have worked J really hard. I'm glad the year ended I on such a high note, Whittaker f said. |
