YANKTON, S.D. – The 2021 competition season is underway for the Concordia University Dance program. In conjunction with basketball games that took place at Mount Marty on Wednesday (Jan. 13), the Bulldogs defeated the Lancers, 61.3 to 52.1. The dance competition took place inside Cimpl Arena on the Mount Marty campus in Yankton, S.D. It marked the first time that Mount Marty had ever hosted cheer and dance events.
Head Coach Mandi Maser is in her fifth season leading the Concordia Cheer and Dance programs. She was named the 2020 GPAC Cheer Coach of the Year. Last season, the Bulldogs turned in GPAC place finishes of sixth in both cheer and dance.
“The team was ready to go and prepared,” Maser said. “We had some very productive practices leading up to it. The overall routine was good, but we have room to grow with a lot of formation stuff and the specific scored elements. We need to make sure those elements are exact and precise. We got scored a little tight with it being the first competition. There’s definitely opportunity for us to increase our score. I was proud of how they represented Concordia.”
Maser’s teams are captained by junior Josie O’Laughlin and senior Cora Rhode in cheer and by junior Haleigh Fitzsimmons and senior Michelle Porath in dance.
The dance squad will host a competition for the first time in 2021 when it welcomes Morningside to Seward on Saturday. The two sides will go head-to-head inside Friedrich Arena at halftime of the women’s basketball game. The start time will be at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT.