State Champions

The Liberty Drill Team placed first in the 3A Kick category and second in the 3A Military category at the State Finals on 3/28. It was an awesome experience! The girls fought so hard this year to be the best, overcoming injuries, lazy coaches, lots of new girls on the team, etc. It was so sweet to see their hard work pay off.

Here's a recap of their season:
Competition on 1/10 at Highline High School: 
3rd in Kick (Mercer Island won 1st)
2nd in Military (Mercer Island won 1st)

Competition on 1/24 at Lynwood High School:
1st in Kick (although there were only two kick entries, so the kick category was combined with another category, and the girls did not place)
2nd in Military (Lake Washington won 1st)

Competition on 2/7 at Eastlake High School:
3rd in Kick (Bellevue won 1st)
2nd in Military (Moses Lake won 1st)

Competition on 2/21 at Redmond High School:
1st in Kick (our first true win with a shout out and trophy)
3rd in Military (Newport won 1st and Lake Washington won 2nd)

District Competition on 3/7 at Mt. Si High School:
2nd in Kick (Bellevue won 1st, Mercer Island was 3rd)
1st in Military (we beat Mercer Island - amazing!)

So, as you can see from the above comp outcomes, the girls had only received a true 1st place trophy in each category one time going into State. This made their 1st place win in Kick so much sweeter. While they would have loved to place 1st in Military too, they gave it their all. There were a few stumbles in their routine which likely pushed them into 2nd, but they powered through and did great. One of the girls severely sprained her ankle at the beginning of the Military dance and proceeded to dance full out for the remainder of the dance - it is truly admirable to watch the video replay of it.

Taylor, Grace, Alivia and Lizzy were the four captains this year, and I loved watching them work together (particularly Taylor, Grace and Alivia - Lizzy was injured all season and sort of checked out). 

Tryouts for next season (Taylor's SENIOR year) are this week, and captain tryouts are next week. There is no downtime in drill, but Taylor has absolutely loved being a part of the team and it has been the highlight of her high school experience.

True elation after winning 1st for the first time this season

A cute pic of Taylor and her boyfriend

Taylor Thain, on the left, is wearing a sweatshirt that says 'Lil Tay because she is a freshman. My Taylor's sweatshirt says Big Tay.

State sendoff at school

Taylor's biggest fans!

A hug from mom!

This picture was on the WIAA Insta page. That's my girl!