Christian Sopkowiak/Winonan

Friendship. That is the first word that comes to the minds of the two captains of the dance team when they were asked about their favorite part about their team.

Ashley Wzientek and Tess Olson, the two 2013 captains of the Winona State University dance team, mentioned the amazing bonds that the dance team can create.

“Hands down, my favorite part about dance team is the friendships that are created,” Olson said. “I, to this day, am still best friends with the girls I met my first day on the team.”

“My favorite part about the dance team is that it is a group of girls that are incredibly close to each other,” Wzientek said.

Wzientek is a sophomore dancer who has 12 years of experience with dancing. Olson is a junior dancer who attended nationals both in Florida and in Minneapolis during her freshman year.

The dance team is a club that consists of 12-18 girls that perform dance routines on the sidelines during the football home games and during halftime at the home basketball games.

“We also make all community and parade appearances that we can, hold an annual dance clinic for area children in the winter, and compete regionally and nationally,” Olson said.

The Winona State dance team practices two to four days a week, two and a half hours at a time. They will spend most of their time preparing for their routine that they will be performing for either football or basketball. They will then spend the rest of their time preparing for the regional and national competitions.

“Once we get farther into our season and closer to nationals we then begin to have three to four 6 a.m., practices a week,” Olson said. “It’s a lot of work to balance getting to bed on time, waking up early, attending classes and maintaining all homework. It’s definitely a balancing act, but completely worth it.”

However, besides for their love for dance, the main thing that makes the team members want to keep coming back are the friendships. They want to dance and work hard to pump up the home crowds, but they also want to feel close with their teammates.

“I honestly consider dance team to be my family. They are the people that I rely on most. I don’t know what I would do without them,” Olson said.

“You are close during practices, and at the games. But, we are also close friends outside of the games and practices. We hang out during classes and on the weekends,” Wzientek said.

According to the two captains, the dance team is more than what is seen during their routines. That one to three minute routine seen during the games takes hours of time and hours of bonding.

“They are a wonderful group of women on our campus. They work really hard and no one knows it,” said Tracy Rahim, the Winona State dance team adviser. “There is so much behind the scenes; like their six a.m. practices that they do in order to accomplish what they want to.”

Wzientek and Olson both said that the dance team is one of the best experiences that they have ever had. They enjoy the art of dancing and the relationships that they have forged over the years.

“Give any opportunity a shot out there, whether that’s dance team or something else. Because being a part of this team has been the best part of my college experience,” Olson said.

The dance team works so hard to prepare for their routines that Rahim wants everyone to watch them. “It’s all student choreographed. For two minutes at half time, please sit and watch. It’s pretty amazing what they do,” Rahim said.

Contact Christian at [email protected]