Aggie Websider Dancer of the Game

Before every men's basketball home game Allison Schulke features a member of the Texas Aggie Dance Team on Aggie Websider. The featured dancer for the November 28 game is Tiffany Pichanick (left).

To see Tiffany's profile, click here

For all of Allison Schulke's Dance Team features this season, click here

Nothing's Better Than The Dance Team

By Brian Fadem
The Daily Free Press

This past weekend was one of the roughest to be a Terrier fan, and it was especially difficult for Jesus and I. It began Friday afternoon in Chestnut Hill, when the women's soccer team made an early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Like the field hockey team, the women's soccer team won the America East Tournament but couldn't do anything in the NCAAs.

It only got worse when the women's hockey team got shut out on home ice against St. Cloud State. I honestly don't know where that school is located, but it's a cool name.

Things started to look up later that evening, when the men's hockey team absolutely pounded Vermont. Someone must have told the team, "Hey, some parts of the country will be able to see you guys play tonight because this game is on CN8." That's the only reason I can explain why the team scored NINE goals. First they net seven at home against UMass-Lowell, then nine on the road. At this rate, in two weeks - when the Terriers host BC - they should score a record 11 goals at Agganis. I can't wait.

Unfortunately, the momentary bliss I enjoyed Friday night didn't last. What I predicted would happen did in fact happen: After scoring nine goals the night before, the Terriers lost by one Saturday night to the same team in the same building. I guess the Terriers really need to be on TV to shine. Sadly, this wasn't the only loss Saturday.

For the second night in a row, the women's ice hockey team dropped a game to St. Cloud State. Over in Agganis, Jesus and I witnessed back-to-back basketball losses -- something I never want to experience again.

First, the women's basketball team lost to Ohio State University. Later, the men shot a porous 37 percent from the field in a loss to St. Joseph's University -- a team the Terriers really just cannot beat.

I stood in the front row as the clock ran down Saturday, staring at Jesus, questioning my existence.

Through all the tears, turmoil and trouble I experienced this weekend, there was some success. And when I say success, I mean HOT success.

See, there is a team at Boston University that remains undefeated and has stayed unbeaten since the team's inception.

If this team were a hockey player, it would be Tom Morrow. If it was a meal, it would be dessert. If it was a place, it would be paradise. The Boston University Dance Team: collectively, they are a perfect 10 and God's greatest creation.

The BUDT attends all basketball games, and if it was up to me it would be at all hockey games, too. Northeastern University has cheerleaders at its hockey games, so why don't we one-up them (as BU usually does to NU) by featuring the dance team at Agganis? I can guarantee attendance records would be absolutely shattered.

I remember at last year's men's basketball America East Tournament that almost every other school had a dance team. Looking at the other dance teams was like looking at a car crash -- so horrific, bu I couldn't stop staring in complete disgust.

As soon as the Terrier dance team walked out, the other squads stepped aside. The intimidation factor was tremendous. The BUDT is on a whole different level -- it can compete with most, if not all, NBA dance teams. When you see the BUDT, enjoy it, because it doesn't get much better.

The dance team stands behind the basket near the entrance to Case Gymnasium. There is a reason for that, which I finally realized this season: The opposing team shoots toward the entrance of Case in the second half of every game. Imagine trying to shoot free throws while 14 gorgeous girls are shaking their moneymakers in your face. Not easy.

Last year, the team thrilled Jesus and I. We went to the first basketball game unaware such a pleasure existed. Now, when there's a break in the action, Jesus and I divert all of our attention to the dancers' perfectly choreographed routines.

Now, I'm not knocking the cheerleaders -- I like them too. But there's something very special about the dance team. Perhaps it's that it really is a team -- they each have numbers, an official roster and names that Jesus and I have memorized just like the basketball and hockey roster.

My dream this season, you ask? Yes, I want to dance. Yes, Jesus wants to dance. Yes, we want to dance with the dance team. I don't know if we're good enough to be included, but if the dance team allowed us to be incorporated into one of its routines, my life would be complete. I wouldn't know what to live for anymore.

These ladies are the real deal - perfection, honestly. At Agganis, they paint faces and give out temporary tattoos. You can't miss them at Case. If you attend a basketball game this year, make sure you stay in your seat after the first 20 minutes because the BUDT always perform and never disappoints. Jesus and I appreciate all they do and hope the team continues its undefeated dominance. You go, girls.

2008 College Dance Team Video Entry Results

The video entry results for the 2008 UDA College Dance Team championships in Orlando, FL were announced a couple of weeks ago and below is a listing of the top finishers by division.

Can Minnesota regain its IA title after finishing third last year, or is Tennessee starting a new dynasty of its own? Can the California schools, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, stay atop the Division I standings? And who will take the open division this year: St. Thomas, Orange Coast College, or someone else? We’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime, you can see all the video entry results at Varsity.com

Division IA
1. Minnesota (Paid 1-5)
2. Wisconsin
3. Tennessee
4. Cincinnati
5. Memphis
6. Kansas (Invite-Semis 6-23)
7. Florida State
8. Louisiana
9. Central Florida
10. Louisiana State
11. Michigan State
12. Alabama
13. Iowa
14. Illinois
15. South Florida
16. East Carolina
17. Mississippi
18. Hawaii
19. Michigan
20. Kent State
21. Colorado State
22. Auburn
23. Oklahoma
24. Georgia (Invite-Prelims 24-28)
25. Northwestern
26. Southern Mississippi
27. Louisiana-Monroe
28. Syracuse

Division I
1. Missouri State (Paid 1-2)
2. Delaware
3. Southeastern Louisiana (Invite-Semis 3-21)
4. Long Beach State
5. Idaho State
6. Cal State Fullerton/North Dakota State
7. Northern Iowa
8. UC Santa Barbara
9. George Mason/Illinois-Chicago
10. George Washington

Open Division
1. St. Thomas (Paid 1-2)
2. Orange Coast College
3. Lindenwood
4. Avila
5. St. Cloud State

Tommie Dance Team ranks No. 1

Bulletin News

The University of St. Thomas Dance Team has done more than just qualify for the 2008 National College Cheerleading and Dance Team Championships in Orlando, Fla. By winning the top position in a field of 38 teams in its division, the team also has earned an all-expenses paid bid to the competition.

To compete, teams must submit an unedited videotaped routine to earn a place on the national competition roster. Just like the actual live championships, the videotapes are judged and pre-ranked. Top teams in each division (based on the school’s NCAA sanction) receive the paid bids.

“Our main goal each year going into the taping portion of the competition is to send in the best routine possible … one that we feel confident about,” said fourth-year coach Alysia Anderson. “At this point, the hard part is that you never know what other teams are doing.”

The team taped the same routine during five consecutive practices. “The judges are looking for team synchronicity and difficulty in the videotapes, so when we are taping for several days it all comes down to team consistency and execution,” Anderson said.

Winning isn’t new to this team. The UST Dance Team, which already has two new routines learned for nationals, won its first national title in 2006; however, Anderson has only three members from the championship team on this year’s roster. “The talent that has come into St. Thomas over the past few years is remarkable. I think our top ranking history at the national level has definitely put UST on the map and attracted prospective students specifically interested in the dance team program,” she said.

Although the Tommies qualifying routine was a jazz style, they will compete in both the jazz and hip hop categories this January. “We have placed in the top two in both hip hop and jazz the past three years, so it’s neat to say that we are a well-rounded and versatile team that is able to stay competitive in both styles,” Anderson concluded.

CLU Team Members Handle Coaching Duties Themselves

By Jeffrey Dransfeldt
Photos by Eric Parsons
Ventura County Star

Sabrina Frailich has all the shirts made.

The college coed takes care of finding someone to do the embroidering and a seamstress when one is needed for the costumes; she takes care of the warm-ups and bags.

When it's time for nationals, Frailich buys the makeup and figures out how they'll do their hair.

Everything a coach might do, the members of the California Lutheran University Dance Team do on their own.

It's more work added onto already busy school schedules, but Dance Team members say it's rewarding, as they have watched the program grow from its infancy years ago to be a staple of Cal Lutheran athletics.

"It's hard, because we are self-run, but it is a little more rewarding that we are self-run because at the end of the day we can pat ourselves on the back instead of giving someone else credit for it," Frailich said.

The group has been around for years but became serious and started entering competitions during the 2004-05 year, under the guidance of captain Kaytie St. Pierre, said Kelli Yorita, a senior on this year's team.

It was and still is considered a campus club. Initially, Dance Team members had to find their own practice space and the team developed by word of mouth.

The Dance Team performs at all Cal Lutheran home games for football and basketball. It also participates in other school functions, including a fall carnival and Midnight Madness, which kicks off the basketball season.

"The gym is packed beyond words," Frailich said. "It's a really fun night. That's where a lot of people, if they haven't already heard about us, they hear about us then."

In January, Frailich and her teammates will make their annual appearance at the College Dance Team National Championship at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The competition is held through the United Dance Association.

There the Dance Team, from Division III Cal Lutheran, will compete with schools from Division II and Division I, programs that have full dance faculty and in which dance is recognized as majors and minors.

Frailich, who is in her second year at Cal Lutheran, said that in January 2006, the team placed 13th in Division III, and this past January the team didn't officially place.

In previous years, the team looked at nationals as fun and a reward for all the hard work they put in on campus. This time, they are taking a different approach as a dance team that has established itself on the Cal Lutheran campus.

"We have an amazing choreographer that came in and is doing our pieces for us to take to nationals," Frailich said. "We're working way harder this year than we did last year as far as technique, actually focusing on our dancing and hoping to take it as far as we can."

Yorita said, "There are a lot of community colleges that are a force to be reckoned with. They are awesome to watch and we are not up at their level."

Teams can perform two dances. The CLU team will perform an open dance with more of a jazz feel and a hip-hop dance. They have hired two choreographers, Sacha Bryant for the open dance and Alex Baron for the hip-hop dance, but have no continuing relationship with them. The choreographers will teach the material and leave.

"We take our own independence and kind of go with it," Frailich said.

No coach also means that younger team members have to observe the upperclassmen and all they do, so they can help run the program when the seniors graduate.

The Dance Team began with $250 of school funding. The amount has grown from about $2,500 last year to $10,000 this year from the student body. The members do a variety of fundraisers but gain a large portion of their funding from working at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, which has College Night on Wednesdays. This year the Dance Team works there once a month.

Individuals have to be 18 to get in — 21 to get in the bar area — and the Dance Team receives a portion of the door fee for each person who comes in. They are also paid to help in the bar area, whether it's pouring drinks or serving. Any tips they get to keep.

All the work is worthwhile, said Frailich, who was a cheerleader all four years at Simi Valley High and spent her first two years of college at CSU Channel Islands.

She danced in a studio but, seeking a major Channel Islands didn't have and hearing from a Cal Lutheran alumnus about the dancing team, switched to the Thousand Oaks school.

"I think that without dance and without cheerleading, sports wouldn't be the same, especially at a high school and college level, where school spirit is an emphasis," Frailich said.

WCU Dance Team Raises Money For MADD

By Lindsay Heil
The Quad

The West Chester University dance team is stepping out on campus with the hope to be recognized by the university for making a difference.

On Oct. 20, the dance team hosted a car wash at John L. Smith, Inc., a local used vehicle dealership, and raised $600 that was donated to Mother's Against Drunk Driving.

The dance team represented WCU by attending the Second Annual Strides for Change Walk, supporting Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"The WCU dance team was one of the only representatives walking to simply help the cause, not because we were directly impacted by drunk driving," WCU dance team captain Christina Hydzik said.

The dance team has decided to "actively involve themselves by supporting prominent issues that impact college campuses." The organization chose to represent Alcohol Alternative Events.

"We did this in hopes to show our spirit as a student-run organization on campus," Hydzik said.

This is a promotion campaign created and supported by the University's Public Safety. Officer Maverick Barr and Miss WCU, Andrea Helfrich, helped establish this organization on campus. The promotion campaign was aired on the campus television station.

AAE gives students an alternative to the typical college scene on the weekends. One of the events consists of free transportation to a selected bowling alley along with free pizza and soda.

The dance team has many goals for the year including fundraising for several causes.

"The money we raise goes to MADD and other fundraising we do helps send us to the Universal Dance Association National Competition, where we compete against colleges and universities from all around the country," Hydzik said.

The dance team will be competing in the UDA Nationals for the third year in a row and are motivated to improve from last year after placing ninth in their division.

Besides promoting their organization through fundraisers, other goals for the dance team are to be more involved on campus.

"We want to be known and recognized by the university as making a difference," Hydzik said.