The Lemont High School varsity poms team wrapped up its 2012-13 season earlier this month with a fourth-place finish in state competition.

Lemont took fourth in the Class AA Open Dance category at the 2013 TEAMDance Illinois State Championship, which was held at the Peoria Civic Center on March 3. The team's performance marked the program’s best placement in state competition since 1996.

Additionally, the squad was one of just 23 teams from across the state to be nominated for the TDI “True Colors Sportsmanship Award," the organization's most prestigious annual honor. Only 23 teams from a field of more than 200 received a nomination.

Teams that are nominated for the award demonstrate character, friendliness and sportsmanship, with team members and coaches alike showing respect and admiration for the hard work of their competitors while being serious competitors themselves.

Lemont missed a state trophy by just 0.4 points. Triad won the state title in the Class AA Open Dance competition, while Larkin and Batavia followed in second and third, respectively.

Complete results from this year’s state competition may be found on the TEAMDance Illinois Web site, www.teamdanceillinois.org

Coached by Stephenie Campanile, Lemont qualified for the 2013 TDI State
Championship with three different first-place efforts in regional competition, earning them a placement bid to the TDI State Championship. The squad was first in the Open Dance category at competitions at Wheaton Warrenville South (Dec. 2), Bremen (Feb. 2) and Andrew (Feb. 16).

Teams may qualify for the TDI State Championship in one of two ways—with an automatic bid or a placement bid. Lemont qualified for statecompetition with a placement bid, meaning it finished in the top third of the competing teams at its regional event and achieved a score of at least 83.

Automatic bid status is achieved by scoring 90 or better, regardless of a team’s placement.

From November through February, teams take part in 17 TDI regional competitions throughout the state. The TDI State Championship highlights the state’s best varsity dance, drill, pom and flag teams. The Dance Championship consists of six dance competition categories - Pom, Open Pom, Open Dance, Kick, Lyrical, and Hip Hop - in Class A, Class AA and Class AAA.

This is the fourth time in five seasons that Lemont has qualified for the TDI State Championship. Its previous best finish in TDI state competition was 2011, when it placed sixth in the Class AA Open Pom category.

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