Dance team new at McClain
The MHS dance team: (back, l-r) Assistant coach Alabama Cutler, Payton Worthen, Makayla Murdock, Shelby Wise, Kaylynn Shumaker, Chloe Broyles, Mylie Lovett, Abigail Marsh, Addison Olaker, Anna Barrett, Kyleigh Shoemaker and coach Whitney Vanzant; (front, l-r) Front row (l to r): Adalynn Snyder, Maya Mcnamee, Amber Badgley, Jillian Arthurs, Adee Soards, Leina Grace, Emmy Province, Sophie Harris and Chloe Cooper. (Photos by Whitney Vanzant and Jennifer Fligor.)
By Angela Shepherd
GEVS
Some of you may have noticed a new sort of Tiger excitement happening during McClain High School sporting events this year. That new thing is the MHS dance team.
Headed up by coach Whitney Vanzant, the team started practicing in October and the dance team performs at halftime for both boys and girls basketball, on the sidelines at varsity girls games as well as dances at timeouts, quarters, and the team forms a tunnel for players at the beginning of the game.
Vanzant is assisted by assistant coach Alabama Cutler and team captains Mylie Lovett and Abigail Marsh.
Vanzant is very excited about the dance team. For the last 13 years, Vanzant has owned and operated Modern Movement Dance Company in downtown Greenfield. In addition to that, she has served as choreographer for the MHS Show Choir as well as musicals at the high school for the last decade.
“I have dreamed of the day that I could push dance into the school district,” Vanzant said. And now that her business is well established and her children are in school, she took the job as middle school secretary, which, she said, “opened up the perfect opportunity for me to turn my dreams into reality.”
She said dancers are recognized as athletes, according to OASSA (Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators), and it is her goal “to mimic dance teams from the collegiate level.” This provides an opportunity, she said, for the athletes/dancers that have grown up dancing with her to “share their sport … and be recognized for it.”
Vanzant said she was “pleasantly surprised” at the number of girls that turned up for tryouts. Right now, there are a total of 19 high school girls on the dance team, and while some of them have danced with Vanzant previously, for a lot of them this is their first experience with dance. And new to dance or not, the team members are “crushing it,” she said.
The dance team recently attended an OASSA regional qualifier competition for high school dance teams and qualified for the state competition, where MHS’s dance team placed ninth overall.
In its inaugural year this new team is learning and growing, supporting other Tiger sports from the sidelines, dancing during the breaks to entertain Tiger fans, and competing beyond McClain, all of which provide students involved with another avenue to explore and grow in.
“I look forward to this team growing and finding more opportunities to share our love of dance,” Vanzant said.
You can follow along with everything happening at McClain High School by checking out the various Facebook pages associated with not just the high school, but groups within the high school. Additionally, check out the district website at greenfield.k12.oh.us or go to the district’s social media pages.
Below, the MHS dance team is pictured performing in the new gym. The team is brand new this year.
