Poms gather for the dance-off

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007

Poms gather for the dance-off

by Dan Greenberg | Staff Writer

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Tom Roff⁄Special to The Gazette

Senior captain Nicole Parker leads the Blake pom squad through its routine Saturday at Blair.

Poms programs from 23 high schools were split into three different divisions for the ‘‘County Competition” last Saturday, in a contest judging the teams’ best five- to seven-minute dance routines.

The productions were graded by a panel of six judges based on choreography, technical ability, group execution and overall presentation. First-, second- and third-place rankings were awarded, as well as a ‘‘Spirit Award”, given to the school in each division which best represented the overall essence of the competition.

The title in one division, the Division I-East, was captured by Magruder, for the third straight year. They ousted second-place Watkins Mill and third-place Quince Orchard, as well as Wootton, Seneca Valley, Paint Branch and Poolesville.

The Colonels routine encompassed jazz, hip-hop, pom and lyrical musical performance choreographed by coach Cheryl Failer and her daughter, Natalie Elbaz.

‘‘We had a visual routine that was very fast-paced and difficult,” said Failer, who has been coaching Magruder Poms for six years. ‘‘We have a program here much like the basketball program with consistency and coaches and the kids build from one year to the next. I was very pleased with that routine — it’s difficult to do a six-minute routine that’s that fast.”

Watkins Mill also captured the spirit award for the second consecutive year. Quince Orchard took the third spot away from Northwest, which earned the placing last year.

Things were also a little different from last year in the Division I-West, where Sherwood was able to capture the top spot from Blake after finishing second to the Bengals a year ago. Blake finished in second this year in the new division, which was simply called Division I-B last year. Churchill came in third place with Rockville obtaining the Spirit Award.

The breath of fresh air to the competition, Clarksburg, was the biggest surprise by earning a victory and Spirit Award in Division II. The Coyotes won in their debut appearance at the event, while Blair finished in second for the second consecutive year. Gaithersburg claimed third. A year ago, the Trojans captured the division crown.