Every year when the Wolf Pack Dance Team competes at state they take a photo where the team forms a circle and the seniors stand in the middle. This year only one senior competed as part of the team, while all the other team members were freshmen.
Although the Wolf Pack Dance Team was full of new members this year, they held their own at the State Spirit Competition last weekend.
The Green River High School dance team competed in both the hip hop and jazz categories. The hip hop category was limited to 3A schools, and the Wolf Pack took fifth place out of seven schools. In the jazz category, 4A and 3A schools were combined, with 10 teams competing. Green River took fifth place again, but their finish was second place among the other 3A schools.
"We were competing against larger schools, bigger populations, bigger teams, for that group," Assistant Coach Christine Peterson explained.
Kelly Walsh, Evanston and Rock Springs took the top three jazz spots, all of which are 4A schools. Star Valley, the largest 3A school, took fourth.
"Star Valley's always our competition because they have 29 members on their team and are just super talented," Peterson said.
Green River lost to Star Valley by just a handful of points. The team's fifth-place finish beat four 4A schools and one other 3A school.
"That was actually pretty good for our team to do that well in the jazz category," Peterson said.
The team's good results were especially impressive considering how young and relatively inexperienced the team is this year.
The Wolf Pack headed to state with 11 freshmen and one senior, and the senior is only in her second year of dance. Other girls on the team have some dance experience through studios and gymnastics backgrounds, but the majority of team members don't have much experience and joined the team because they wanted to give it a try, according to Peterson.
"It was kind of like putting a freshman basketball team against a varsity basketball team at their state competition," Peterson said, describing the team's experience at state. For most of the team, it was their first time competing at a state level and facing other teams from across Wyoming. "So there were a lot of nerves, but they really pulled together and supported each other and danced well together, so I think it was a good first experience for this newer team."
Debi Kovick, the Wolf Pack's head coach, admitted going against bigger schools and more experienced teams was tough, but said the girls "worked through it and went out there and did their very best, and they listened to their coaches and performed to their very best ability."
Both Peterson and Kovick expressed their happiness in the team's performance at state and throughout the season.
"For them to perform as well as they did and never have been to the competition before, I couldn't be more proud of them," Kovick said. "It was all pretty new to the team and I was just really impressed with how well they executed and navigated such a huge competition for the first time."
Kovick added the team did well as they kept going and learning through what was the first season for most of the girls.
"I'm proud of these girls just for their perseverance and their grit just to finish a long, long season," She said. "It was new to all of them and they were willing to learn and were willing to try new things."
"They just worked super, super hard all season long and did really well," Peterson agreed. "Debi and I are very proud of them. They did their best and that's all we can ask for. So we're happy with how they did."
Looking to the future, Kovick and Peterson are hopeful many of the girls will continue with dance next season, and they hope to add even more members to the team.
"Once you have your nucleus of talent and then you add to it, they build each other up and they get better and better every year," Peterson said.
Next season the Wolf Pack Dance Team will perform at competitions again, including the 7220 Spirit Competition in Laramie, and will also have the chance to perform with other teams at a Real Salt Lake soccer game.
Peterson said the team will also continue to partner with the Green River Recreation Center's gymnastics program in the future.
Gymnastics coaches from the rec center worked with the dance team this year, hosting regular classes to help the dancers learn more technical skills.
If the dancers who joined the team this year continue throughout high school, Kovick is excited about the possibilities for the Wolf Pack.
"I can really see great things coming from them in the next few years," she said.
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