VERGENNES — The Middlebury Union High School dance team performed well at Saturday’s state championship competition hosted by Vergennes Union High School, taking second in the Hip Hop discipline and third in Jazz.
Mount Mansfield edged the Tigers in a close race in Hip Hop, with the four judges ranking the Tigers highly in many of the nine individual categories in which teams are evaluated (all four gave them top marks in “Formations and Transitions,” for example) and one of the four ranking them first overall. MUHS also scored well for Placement and Control, Synchronization, and Spacing.
Ultimately, three judges gave Mount Mansfield first-place marks overall and one awarded the Cougars second for a total of five ranking points, while the Tigers’ one first and three seconds totaled seven, and the Cougars prevailed.
Burr & Burton (13) took third in the nine-team Hip Hop field, and Lamoille (15) was third and BFA-St. Albans (21) was fifth.   THE MIDDLEBURY UNION High School dance team competes in jazz at Saturday’s state championships.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
South Burlington won the Jazz competition with four points, ranking first in the eyes of all four judges. MMU (nine) took second with three seconds and a third, and MUHS (13) was third in a 10-team field with overall grades of a second, a third and two fourths. The Tigers again scored well for Placement, Synchronization, and Control and Spacing.
Each dance team chooses to compete in two of three disciplines. The Tigers elected not to participate in the five-team Pom competition, won by South Burlington (four), followed by Burr & Burton (eight) and Colchester (12).
   THE MIDDLEBURY UNION High School dance team strikes a pose during their hip hop routine at the state dance competition in Vergennes Saturday afternoon. Middlebury took second in hip hop.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
   THE MIDDLEBURY UNION High School dance team took third place in jazz at Saturday’s state championships.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell