Xavier pom squad staying close to home

CEDAR RAPIDS - Local competition can be just as tough as national competition.

This is the philosophy the Xavier poms are living by this year. The team has elected not to attend a national competition, choosing instead to compete at the local level.

'We decided not to go to nationals this year because we wanted to attend UDA nationals, but our music, which is our own mix and cuts, would have disqualified us,” junior Sidney Scott said. 'Our other choice was DTU nationals, so we chose to save our money for next year.”

The poms squad elected to perform a 'Legally Blonde” themed routine, but their music editing was not compliant with a new rule for the UDA competition circuit, requiring participants to buy music from the competition and have it edited by them.

'It was a hard choice, and there was a lot of back and forth on if we should take the risk and attend,” said Mary Tallett, a junior. 'We overall thought it would be best to not attend this year and save the funding for next year.”

Instead of the national competition, the team has been focusing its energy on competing at the local level. The Saints competed at the Stack the Stands competition at Prairie High School, placing second for their pom routine. The team also competed at the DTU regional competition in Knoxville, earning a third place in the jazz division and a second in the pom division. Most recently, the poms competed at the state competition in Des Moines, earning first place for the pom routine in Class XI, as well as Division I ratings for in pom and jazz routines.

Not attending a national competition has been bittersweet, especially for the seniors on the team.

'It is really sad not going to nationals, but winning the pom state title really made up for it, and I have gone two out of my four years,” senior captain Brie Baldus said.

The poms plan to continue working hard, hoping to end their season on a high note by placing well at the regional competition, which will be hosted at Xavier High School in January.