On March 18, the Linganore pom and dance team competed in the Mid-Atlantic Pom and Dance Association’s Division I competition.

The team won first place for Pom and Jazz, and Captain Mia Yim won first for Lyrical Captain and Hip Hop Captain. Madelyn Beckman, another Linganore team captain, won first for Pom Captain and Jazz Captain. 

In the months leading up to the competition, senior captains Molly Granger, Yim and Beckman worked together to choreograph each routine and teach it to the team. 

“We choreographed the dances but it was kind of in collaboration between all three of us [captains] …  I did the hip hop, Madelyn did the jazz, and me and Madelyn together did the lyrical [dances],” Yim said. 

The team worked together about five hours a week since November to make sure the routines were put together. 

“We have multiple practices a week and we go through each dance. We clean our routines to make sure that we’re all together and were hitting the moves sharp, we’re all in unison [and] we have the same intention with our movements,” said Beckman. 

Coach Michelle Richardson is very proud of the team, all of their hard work and their accomplishments. 

“This year, I was really confident about my team because I had some really great dancers. They have a lot of technique, and they are very dedicated. They came to practice, [and] they knew their dances when they came,” Richardson said. “My girls are very talented.” 

The team’s effort to learn four different routines for the competition did not go unnoticed as they won four titles. 

“It was really nice to win. They were very happy, and I’m glad all their hard work paid off for them, because they wanted it really bad and they worked really hard for it,” Richardson said. 

Beckman mentioned that it was very rewarding as captains to not only receive recognition for their individual work on routines but also for their individual roles in leading their team to victory. 

“It feels really great, [ and I am] very proud of myself. I love to dance,” said Beckman. “I was actually told by some people the other day that they look up to me all the time, and I’m … such a big inspiration to them. That does make me feel really good just to know I inspire people [because dancing’s] what I love to do.” 

Yim also felt proud of the as a Linganore pom and dance captain and team member. 

“It was really rewarding just because we put a lot of hard work into it … and we were all super excited because we knew the dances looked good, and we felt strong,” Yim said.