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Conference Beats End With A Silver Finish

By Tom Schardin, 12/28/19, 2:30PM CST

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The Prior Lake dance team capped off a strong South Suburban Conference season Dec. 21.

The Lakers finished runner-up at the SSC Championships behind host Eastview. The Lightning won the title for the 18th straight year, taking first in both jazz funk and high kick.

Led by its senior captains Kristin Kay, Anna O'Connell, Heather Rothenberger and Julia Wieskus, Prior Lake was runner-up in high kick and third in jazz.

In jazz, Eastview finished with four ranking points, followed by the Lakeville North (9), Prior Lake (11), Lakeville South (17), Burnsville (19), Shakopee (25), Farmington (27), Eagan (32) and Rosemount (35).

The Lightning won high kick with four rank points ahead of Prior Lake (8), Lakeville North (13), Lakeville South (14), Burnsville (20), Farmington (24), Rosemount (30), Shakopee (33) and Eagan (33).

The Lakers will now turn their attention to the Section 1AAA meet, which is Feb. 8 at Bloomington Kennedy. The Lakers will try to get to state in both dances for a third straight season.

The top three teams make the Class 3A state field. This year's competition is scheduled for Feb. 14-15 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Jazz is the first day, and high kick is the second day.

Wayzata is the defending champion in both high kick and jazz.

Prior Lake finished fifth in jazz last year at state and ended up eighth in high kick. The Lakers have been strong in jazz for a while. The team has made state seven straight years and have been in the finals (top six) the last four seasons.

Prior Lake's best finish is fifth, which it also achieved in 2017. The Lakers were sixth at state in both 2018 and 2016, 10th in both 2014 and 2015, and 11th in 2013.

In high kick, Prior Lake's was sixth in 2018 in the program's first-ever state appearance in that dance.

The Lakers will compete in two invitationals after the New Year to get ready for the section competition. They are in the Lakeville South invite Jan. 11 and the Wayzata invite Jan. 18.

Eastview, Lakeville North and Prior Lake were the three state qualifiers in both jazz and high kick from the section last year. The Lakers were the section runner-up in jazz and were third in high kick.