BEHS Pom Squad earns bid to compete for national championship!

The Bishop England High School Pom Squad attended the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Camp at Tennessee Tech University June 13-16 in Cookeville, TN. While there, the team competed to earn a bid to the 2018 UDA National Dance Team Championship to be held in Orlando in February 2018.
During the weeks prior to camp, the team worked to perfect their pom “home” routine in order to place among some of the best programs in the country. In addition to the pom routine, squad members each learned and performed three new routines in an attempt to earn a spot at the UDA National Dance Team Championship. In order to qualify, a team must place and receive a trophy in the “home” routine competition or receive a superior trophy, which is based on the percentage of blue ribbons earned for the other routines learned at camp.
According to BEHS Pom Squad Faculty Sponsor Kathleen Grisillo, the squad has returned from camp exceeding all expectations! The girls received the team full-out award, the “110% Award,” all blue ribbons, a superior trophy, and placed in the top three in the “home” routine competition, along with two outstanding nationally-ranked programs from North Carolina and Tennessee! The team also returns with five members being named All-Americans: Senior Mary Chandler Grisillo; and Juniors Lauren Baggett, Emma Barrentine, Megan DuRegger, and Maddie Thomas.
This will mark the first time in program history that the squad will attend the most prestigious dance team competition of its kind in the country. The BEHS Pom Squad is coached by Patrice Christian and assisted by Whitney Martin. Congratulations to the squad on a fantastic start to their season!