The St. Joe’s dance team concluded their 2018-19 competitive season at the Universal Dance Association College Dance Team National Championship in Orlando, Fl., bringing home a third place finish in the pom division and a fourth place finish in the hip hop division.

Head Coach Brittany Ambrose said that as a coach, she could not have asked anymore from her dancers.

“They really left it all out there and they gave every ounce, so there is no looking back with any regrets,” Ambrose said.

A week prior, the dance team took home a pair of first place finishes in the pom and hip hop divisions at the regional UDA  Northeast Competition.

Junior dancer Giovanna Boscarino said the team’s performance at regionals gave them confidence going into nationals.

“This year marked the seventh time we have been regional champions for our hip hop division and the first time in a while that we have been pom champions,” Boscarino said. “It was motivating to go into nationals the following week, after starting on a great note and knowing that we are capable of competing with and going up against the best teams.”

Boscarino said that every minute of preparation was done solely with nationals in mind.

“The nationals that we attend in Orlando is something that we work for starting from August all the way until January when we leave,” Boscarino said. “We spend all of our winter breaks here practicing for our pom and hip hop routines to make sure that they are perfect and every trick, form and move hit is as we would want it to be on the nationals floor.”

Ambrose said that this year’s team has created a standard for St. Joe’s dance as a result of their performance.

“We’ve put ourselves on the map as a competitor and a force to be reckoned with year after year,” Ambrose said. “There is an expectation now for St. Joe’s to attend nationals and provide an entertaining four minutes in total to the crowd to show our athleticism, our spirit for our university and our competitiveness.”

Senior captain Heather Briody said that while a large part of their time is spent  entertaining at  the men’s and women’s basketball games, nationals always remained the team’s primary focus throughout the season.

“As much as we are a sort of spirit squad for the basketball teams, nationals is something that we look forward to every single year and we work day in and day out for,” Briody said.

This year at nationals, the  team performed for two minutes in each of their pom and hip hop routines, placing the weight of all their preparation on four short minutes of competition.

Briody said in those moments the dancers simply have faith in each other and their preparation.

“It’s all about trust,” Briody said.  “It really comes down to [those] four minutes that we get on the floor; and so, we just have to be confident in ourselves and each other.”

Ambrose said she ultimately credits her team’s successful competitive season to the close relationships her team developed.

“The sisterhood that these girls have created really just shows their dedication and love for one another,” Ambrose said.  “Some of these girls would be hurt and ailing and not show it at all, because they want to [compete] not for themselves, but for the girl standing next to them.”