Competitive Dance: Woodstock amazed to be 1 of 6 local teams headed to state

Woodstock’s competitive dance team heard its name called as one of the six qualifiers at last week’s IHSA South Elgin Sectional competition and thought it was a mistake.

Blue Streaks coach Ashley Doran said her team was confused and thought the P.A. announcer forgot to add “North” after saying “Woodstock.” The Woodstock girls sat silent without reacting.

When Woodstock heard Woodstock North announced next, the Blue Streaks leaped to their feet and began celebrating with their fellow District 200 dancers. Woodstock, which had one dancer in August after Doran was hired, had qualified for the IHSA Competitive Dance State Meet.

“This wasn’t even a thought that crossed our minds,” Doran said. “We were so shocked, on such disbelief that this happened.”

Woodstock and Woodstock North, in Class 1A, are two of six local teams that will compete in three classes Friday at Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena. Huntley will compete in Class 3A, while Burlington Central, Crystal Lake Central and Crystal Lake South will be in Class 2A.

Burlington Central finished third in the 2A class and will be joined by other Fox Valley Conference schools Crystal Lake Central and Crystal Lake South in that class. Huntley took fourth in Class 3A.

Crystal Lake Central has four top-10 finishes in its state history, including a Class 2A state championship in 2013. Huntley has three top-10 places in 3A, including 2016 state runner-up.

Burlington Central took eighth in Class 1A in 2019 and was fifth in 2A in 2021.

There are 90 teams competing, 30 in each of the three classes. The top 12 teams from Friday’s preliminary round advance to the finals Saturday.

Doran had a meeting in August with senior Madelyn Sral, the only team member at that point. Doran thanked Woodstock North coach Jackie Janke for helping her with the recruitment process because Janke let Sral perform with her team at the crosstown rivalry football game.

Doran had been recruiting girls, and that performance helped her get two more.

In October, Doran had eight more girls, and they started learning their routine over the holiday break. The Blue Streaks team had to withdraw from some early competitions because they were not ready, but they took second in the Kishwaukee River Conference competition, then took fourth at Grayslake Central before the sectional.

“We had one week before sectionals to change a few things and practice more,” Doran said. “We then jumped 10 points, placed top six out of 17 teams and qualified for state.

“We have a video on Facebook of us just being so confused at sectionals because we thought the announcer forgot to add the North after Woodstock. We were sure they meant Woodstock North. The announcer then said third place was Woodstock North. We then quickly realized we both qualified, and it was just amazing.”