This year the McPherson High School dance team performed at football games, pep rallies, and the state dance competition in Topeka. These girls have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the dance floor and routines in which they performed. Each girl is passionate, dedicated, and determined to finish the year off strong.
Katilyn Garverick, a smart, strong, 16 year old, has attended MHS her entire high school career. Gaverick has been dancing all through high school, and plans to be dance captain her Senior year. She hopes to get a scholarship to Kansas State University to pursue dancing even further. ¨When she was an infant my aunt owned a dance studio, I would go and spend time watching the beautiful dancers along with hanging out there,¨ remembers Gaverick.
As a young active girl, Gaverick talked about how she did gymnastics at 6-years-old. The reason that she was put into gymnastics was because she would constantly be moving as that thought excited her. Gymnastics did not last long for Gaverick, but the benefit of doing gymnastics was endless. Not only did she become more flexible but she also learned how to pick up on choreography quickly which would help her when she began dancing.
With 17 girls on the team, everything they did was a team effort. From practice to the field to Topeka, the girls grew with each other and learned about each other while maintaining a year-long friendship. “I love the laughter and the giggles and us being ourselves on the field especially when we get a touchdown we all get excited and come together,” said Gaverick, describing her teammates.
New people come onto teams all the time. Sometimes it’s at the beginning of the year and sometimes it’s in the middle of a season. Entering a new team can make anyone feel nervous, but with the right people on the team, such as Gaverick, it can make all the difference. “ Just give it your all, always smile, and have fun. But at the same time you need to focus on school, and if it is getting too hard for you take time off from dance. And Dara is very understanding,” remarked Gaverick.
Like all of us, Gaverick gets anxiety when it’s time to perform. She says when she gets anxious and worried about doing a specific skill or a routine, she takes a deep breath and tries to think about having fun, not what she was worried about.
Being a student-athlete can be challenging. With school, sports, friends, and family, chaos is bound to happen. Gaverick, like many students at MHS, is a student-athlete that manages school along with her sport. Although at times it can be difficult, she pushes through to be the student all teachers and coaches adore. “ I have noticed that it does take a lot of time. For me it’s away from school because of games and then also state,” Gaverick explains. Even with her homework and practice, she manages to keep good grades and practice hard. She also said that it helps when the coaches are understanding with grades and homework.
Dancing is a physically and mentally difficult sport. It takes a strong person to be able to dance, manage school, and help out others around them. Katilyn Gaverick is one of the best dancers on the MHS dance team. Not only does she practice hard, but she allows herself to help out others around her and encourage her teammates. Dancing will always be a hard and time consuming sport, no matter who is on your team. But when you have someone there to encourage you when everyone else around you has left, it makes everything a little bit easier.