Competitive dance: Pirate Poms, Streatorettes given performance times for IHSA State Final

Both the Ottawa Pirate Poms and the Streatorettes advanced via top-three sectional finishes to this weekend’s IHSA Competitive Dance State Final at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

Both dance squads performed Saturday at the Fieldcrest Sectional in Minonk, one of five sectionals held across the state. Each sectional’s top six teams in each class advanced.

Streator placed second of 15 teams in the Class 1A division, earning a team score of 80.30. That finished behind sectional champion Morris (87.00), but ahead of fellow Class 1A state qualifiers Elmwood (79.70), Eureka (79.17), Gardner-South Wilmington (79.17) and Rockridge (76.07).

The Pirate Poms competed in Class 2A, finishing third in a field of 13 teams with a team tally of 82.33. That placed Ottawa behind sectional champion Dunlap (84.33) and runner-up Washington (83.53), but ahead of fellow 2A state qualifiers Pekin (82.13), Peoria High (79.97) and Troy Triad (79.57).

The IHSA Competitive Dance State Final is broken into two days – preliminaries featuring all state qualifying teams on Friday followed by the finals qualifiers competing again Saturday.

The Pirate Poms are scheduled to report Friday at 10:45 a.m., performing at 11:23 p.m. Members of Ottawa’s team include Mia Abernathy, Melanie Stisser, Melanie Kaminski, Madi Theissen, Finley Gross, Lilly Samolitis, Aubrey Maubach, Macie Hart, Kaylee Monroe, Sienna Banushi, Sophie Fernandez, Hadley Byrd, Maddie Anderson, Rudi Fleck, Maddie Kerestes, Sierra Harmon, Raygan Hatfill, Caroline Cooney, Maggie Kidder, Natalie Dyche, Bella Hart, Maya Martin and Mia Lowe, coached by Alaina Weatherford and Leah Kuhn.

The Streatorettes are scheduled to report to Grossinger Motors Arena at 12:03 p.m. Friday and perform at 12:41 p.m. This year’s competition team includes Madyson Proud, Brooklyn Stillwell, Ella Park, Payton Blakemore, Olivia Willey, Isabella Katrein-Cinotto, Alexis Patterson, Emma Devera and Katherine Bressner, coached by Payton Scott and Ashley Manypenny.

Class 1A and 2A state finalists are expected to be announced shortly before 3 p.m.