By Dillon Flanigan
Sports Editor
By Avery Martin
Contributer
Over winter break, the University Dance Team competed at the Universal Dance Association’s College National Championships in Orlando, Florida. Placing fifth in the nation, the team achieved their goals and captain Sabrina Downs was influential in making it happen.
Downs, a senior business major, has been on the team since the second semester of her freshman year at the university. She initially did not make the team in her first semester but secured a spot on the second try.
“I tried out again in the spring and I made the team. I was following through social media, seeing them at games, definitely watching them to see what I could bring to the table,” Downs said, a New Britain native who is also an RA on campus.
Downs did not participate in dance as a child but found her love for it in high school when she took two classes. She said her desire to compete on a collegiate team inspired her to choose the university. Now a senior, she was elected captain for her final year.
Junior Bella Cassin, who is also on the team, says Downs was the perfect choice for the role.
“In times like this, when as a teammate you are looking for some guidance, she has always been there. Any questions you have, even if you just need to talk about something, she’s always been a person you can go to,” Cassin said.
Downs led the team to their first Nationals in 10 years in January. There they partnered with the Cheer Team to take fifth in the nation in the open spirit game day program.
“I didn’t really have any expectations. I just did it for the experience,” Downs said. “I just came out here to dance and do as best as I can.”
Cassin says the experience has been the highlight of her dance team experience.
“It was really awesome to even get to Nationals in the first place, and to have that opportunity as a team to really show the growth that we’ve had and all the skills we’ve been building up,” Cassin said.
The team of 22 dancers worked hard in preparation, training multiple times a week at the Pelz Gymnasium to perfect their routines.
“I was so grateful to be able to do that. It was a lot of hard work. We spent most of our winter break in Pelz having practices, practicing with cheer to prepare for our routine with them,” Cassin said.
Downs says the practices were difficult but rewarding.
“That was so exhausting, but it was so much fun at the end of the day,” Downs said.
Prior to Nationals, the team only had one other competition in the fall semester. However, Downs said it was good preparation to compete at the National Championships. There, they competed against teams from across the country.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to compete against them because these are teams we look up to. It’s like they are doing great things, and we want to be there,” said Downs.
She noted some of the schools they watched dance at the championship included Louisiana State University, Long Island University and the University of Minnesota.
Now back on campus, Downs hopes the recent results inspire more freshmen to join the team. Try-outs occur twice every academic year.
“It just has to be a right fit,” Downs said. “It’s just a matter of if you have the drive if you want to work towards getting better. You don’t have to be perfect.”
With a top five finish at Nationals, it brings more attention for the team, and more interested dancers.
“Right now they are really looking at us because we went to Nationals this year, we did a lot of competitions, we are a lot more active on social media, so people had a lot more to look at,” Downs said.
