The WJ Poms team had their most important event of the season: the county championship. The meet took place at Blair High School on Saturday, Feb. 3, in front of a packed crowd of students and parents from the eight teams competing.

The Wildcats placed sixth out of the eight teams, but only because of a 12-point deduction due to a safety violation. A safety judge ruled that the Wildcats performed an illegal move. The WJ coaches are working to rectify this decision, putting them in fifth place.

“We did so well! There’s nothing that could have been better and I’m so proud of our performance. It was a great way to show off all our hard work from the season,” senior captain Alexa Steinberg said.

The team is proud of their performance. Everyone was in unison, and the team seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“I think the team gave it everything we had and we really danced together as a team and just overall had a lot of fun competing for the last time together,” sophomore Charlotte Austegard said.

The Sherwood Poms team placed first, making them the 2024 county champs. Damascus ended up in second place and Blake placed third. These teams had well-practiced performances with high energy and complex moves. The Spirit Award went to the BCC Poms team.

The competition in Division One is very intense, with every team being incredibly skilled. So, even with the fifth-place finish, the girls still have much to be proud of. They also placed better than they did in Division Two in the prior season.

“We’re losing some strong seniors so we’re hoping to build up technique more in the off-season to hopefully have more team skills next year,” Austegard said.

The Poms team is extremely thankful for the WJ community’s support and was very happy to see so many spectators at such an important event. This competition marks the end of the Poms’ season and an incredible year for the members of the team and the coaches. Next year’s team looks promising, with many talented dancers returning.