The Vestavia Hills High School Rebelettes competitive dance team delivered a national championship-winning performance March 8 at the National High School Dance Association’s competition.
The team has placed in the top ten in the nation for sixteen consecutive years, but this is the first National Championship in school history.
“The VHHS Rebelette program has a culture of excellence that goes back decades. This championship is for all the dancers that came before us,” said Kate Richardson, VHHS senior co-captain.
According to a release, more than 2,600 dancers representing 30 states and 5,000 spectators took part in the three-day competition in Orlando, Florida.
The first two days of the competition saw Vestavia Hills separate itself from the field during the preliminaries. A strong team performance on Saturday gave them a berth into the finals.
“After we finished 5th during the preliminary round we knew we had to step up our game for the finals,” said VHHS senior co-captain Abigail White.
Sunday’s team dance national championship finals pitted high schools from states spanning the country including California, New York, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Alabama.
“The girls worked extremely hard and believed in themselves and in being the team that could make history for the school,” said head coach Faith Lenhart said. She noted that the squad’s dedication to push each other to be their best was behind their success.
Mary Prickett, VHHS senior captain, said that winning the title was the “greatest moment of her life.”
Members of the varsity team include Morgan Anthony, Anna Bochnak, Maggie Evans, Margaret Ann Green, Lauren Ann Holmes, Luisa Horta, Mary Prickett, Kate Richardson, Riley Richardson, Maddie Robison, Hayden Speegle, Abbie Stockard and Abigail White. Coaches include Lenhart and Junior Varsity coach Charity Jones.
The team celebrated their win by spending today at Universal Studios before they return to Birmingham on Tuesday.
