Competitive dance: Burlington Central, Crystal Lake Central end up in familiar spots

Burlington Central missed advancing to the final day of last year’s IHSA Competitive Dance State Finals, but the Rockets were right back in a familiar place on Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Crystal Lake Central competes in the IHSA 2A Competitive Dance State Finals Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024 at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. (Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com/Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com)

Central finished sixth in the Class 2A finals, scoring 90.32 for its fourth top-10 finish in five years. The Rockets took fifth in Class 2A last year, were fifth in Class 1A in 2021 (a virtual meet because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and were eighth in 1A in 2019.

Taking the floor for the last time in the 23-24 season Central dance looking to see what they can do in day two. Regardless of outcome great season by these students-athletes & coaches. @NWHPreps pic.twitter.com/0tuSvmBzsI
— CHS Rocket Athletics (@AthleticsRocket) January 27, 2024

Central qualified in fifth place from Friday’s preliminaries. Lake Forest won the Class 2A state title with 98.02, by almost four points.

Crystal Lake Central, one of three other area schools which qualified for the state competition, took 12th in Class 2A with an 84.34 score. The Tigers have been to all 12 IHSA state competitions.

This is the third consecutive year Crystal Lake Central took 12th place. The Tigers were 13th in 2021 and ninth in 2019.