The Raider Dance Team opened its 2025-26 season on a high note, taking second in Varsity Jazz at its first competition of the year.
The meet focused solely on jazz routines, and Hastings delivered a polished debut. Two Rivers finished first in Varsity Jazz, Hastings placed second, South St. Paul took third, Simley came in fourth, and Tartan rounded out the standings in fifth.
In JV Jazz, Two Rivers again claimed first. South St. Paul placed second, Hastings finished third, and Simley took fourth.
For Hastings, the early success carried extra meaning. Head coach Kayla Sohn said the dancers walked into the season much more prepared to build competitive routines after learning from last year’s score sheets and judge feedback.
“We learned from last year from the score sheets of what our routines were missing,” Sohn said. That information guided the work of this year’s choreography committee, which focused on “difficulty, transitions, more formation” to strengthen the overall routine.
Last season had been the team’s first experience with the full competitive process.
“We'd never done it before last year. So, we were like, this is a dance. Let's put it out there,” Sohn said. With a year to step back and rebuild, the coaches “could re look at the dance, re look at the structures, re look at what other people are doing, so that we became more competitive.”
Jazz remains a familiar comfort zone for the dancers, many of whom have prior training in the style. Kick, however, is still new for much of the roster.
“For us, I think kick, just because a lot of our dancers have experience with jazz dance already,” Sohn said, explaining that the team will need to devote extra focus as it prepares to debut its kick routine.
Saturday's performance also came with an extra challenge. The team typically practices in a small studio, not a full gym, which made spacing and staging a bit of an adjustment.
“That was our first time taking the floor with both those routines,” Sohn said. “We also don't typically practice in a gym. So that's a big deal for us too, staging and spacing and stuff. We're so proud of them for getting out there and doing that for the first time and navigating all of that and doing so well.”
Captains for the season are Miley Pagel, Delaney McGraw, Avery Courneya, Kate Marthaler, and Zuzu Cullen, who will lead the Raiders into what is shaping up to be a milestone year.
The team will return to competition next week, where it will perform its jazz routines again and reveal its new kick routine. Hastings will also host its first home dance meet on December 2, which Sohn described as another major moment for the program.
“We are so excited for next week as we will get to re compete the jazz dances and debut our kick dance as well as Hastings will host its very first ever home dance meet on December 2! It will be another historic moment for the Hastings dance team.”