Naperville Central’s varsity dance team won their IHSA Sectional for the first time in history on Jan. 20, with a score of 91.37. 

The team advanced to the IHSA Dance State Final with the win, where they placed eighteenth with a score of 83.00 on Jan 25th.  

“Being able to bring home a sectional title to our athletic department is super exciting, a humbling moment for it to be with this group of dancers who have been working very, very hard since the spring,” Coach Terri Collins said. 

The dancers succeeded despite an entirely new coaching staff for the season.

“It was definitely an adjustment getting used to everyone’s coaching styles, just putting your trust in these two random people that you don’t know,” Junior and varsity dancer Carmen Ambroz said. “But we trusted them, and they led us the right way.” 

For sectionals, Collins wanted to focus on the team’s showmanship.

“Our goal [was] to get our highest showmanship score,” Collins said. “We’d been in the eight ranges, and the high score was 10.” 

The team ended sectionals with a showmanship score of mid-nines. 

“For dance, you only have one chance, one performance, “ Laflamme said, “you just want to leave it all on the floor with no regrets.”