The Bernies hit the dance floor

The University of St. Francis’ (USF) dance team, led by coach Ally Whittenhall, is getting ready for another fun and competitive season full of competition and pride. They are just starting their offseason, but they have been busy meeting over summer for practices and have been performing at school events like the football and basketball games. The two team captains, Stefanie Schellhorn and Aleksandria Potoczny, talked about how the team is this year and what they aim to accomplish.

Schellhorn and Potoczny explained that there is no true off-season for dance. When they are not performing at various sporting events, the team is preparing for what comes next.

“We have been working on football halftime routines to get them perfect to perform at home games and our competition routine to make them performance ready,” Potoczny said.

 The basics are also a key part of dancing, as each little step matters to performing the perfect dance and being the best.

 “We work a lot on technique and getting back to the basics and really breaking it down so when we add skills, we are stronger and better,” Schellhorn said. 

The ladies made it known that not a lot of people know what their seasons look like because it is often an overlooked sport at most colleges, especially at a small university like USF. It's not just dancing at half time for sports like most people think. Both Stefanie and Aleks emphasized how serious the competition season gets, there is a very different transition from offseason to season mode during practice. 

“We are not only working on our technique, we are implementing it with cardio so we can maintain it throughout our entire performance so it looks good and we also aren't tired,” Potoczny said. 

Potoczny also said how fatigue can cost very important points in competition, and they get judged on everything, such as technique and facial expressions, so every little thing matters when you are out on the dance floor.  

As the women’s season comes closer to beginning, both Schellhorn and Potoczny discussed the team’s mindsets going into the competitions and what they want to accomplish. 

“We are hungry and working really hard this season and have a lot of talent,” Schellhorn said. 

Potoczny added that the 2023-24 dance team made it to nationals, and that's always the goal to make it and go back there. 

“We just want to prove that the USF dance team can stand with the rest of the NAIA and hold our own,” Potoczny said.

The entire team is excited for this upcoming season and is ready to show why the University of St. Francis' dance team deserves the same recognition as other sports on campus.