The Rockwall-Heath High School Highsteppers competed in the highly competitive American Dance and Drill Team National Championships in Denton this past weekend and earned the title of National Champions for the second year in a row! Once again the Highstepper team scored higher than every high school team in every division at the competition to be named “Best of the Best”. Every member of the team will recieve a National Champion jacket from American Dance and Drill Team for this high honor. The Highsteppers were also awarded National Academic Champions for the highest GPA average and received a perfect score on their production routine which won National and International Champion awards. The Production was also awarded the “Wow Factor” award and the team won the Gussie Nell Davis Award of Excellence. The Highsteppers won National Champion team Kick, National Champion team Pom, and National Champion team Contemporary.
The “Heart of Heath” Highstepper Officers were awarded National Champions again this year as the top scoring team in the highly competitive large team category. The officers won National Champion Jazz, National Champion Prop, First runner-up Contemporary and First runner-up Hip-Hop. Several Highsteppers were solo finalists. Shawnee Gillham won second runner-up, Natalie Jimenek won six runner-up, McKenzie Bryant won seventh runner-up, and Kelsey Dvorak won eighth runner-up. The Heath Overlapse Crew also competed and were awarded first-runner up and second runner-up for their routines. Congratulations to the award winning National Champion Highstepper Officers and Team on a fantastic win! The Highsteppers are under the direction of Ms. Monica Lyon and Assistant Director Ms. Anna Blair.
Pictured are Jr. Lt. Audrey Lawrence, Jr. Lt. McKenzie Bryant, 1st Lt. Brooke Sands, Ms. Monica Lyon, Captain Allison Strother, Sr. Lt. Sarah Schneider, Jr. Lt. Shawnee Gillham, Lexi Shields, Elizabeth Carranza, Brittany Dickison, Crystal Vo, Kaitlyn Peacock, Hailee Nix, Samantha Barnett, Soriah Hassanizadeh, Kaelyn Hurley, Kelsey Dvorak, Molly Mosby, Kaitlyn Birdsong, Juntra Chanthavisay, Taylor Transou, McKenzee Yang, Taylor Frisby, Abby Scott, Aly Smith, Madison Patlan, Jessica Blundell, Victoria Steele, Natalie Jecmenek, Brooke Resseguie, Kaitlyn Strother, Emma Young, Mikayla Armstrong, Sage Buchanan, Anna Deren, Josey Mayes, Sara Regian, Kenzie Smith, Maggie Weatherman, Cole Smith, Quentin Loya, Brandon Yang, Suriya Chanthavisay, Matt Sumpton, Kennedy Nhem, Johnny Nhem, Karina Wooten and Kimberly Valera.