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Sports from the week of January 12, 2000

Headlight Herald - Serving Tracy, Minnesota, since 1880

Twisters hosting dance competitions

Got dance? The Tracy Twisters do.

The dance team is hosting a competition on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Tracy Area High School. On February 12, Tracy will host the first-ever sectional tournament for the sport.

The Tracy Twisters were organized in 1991 as a Community Education activity under the leadership of Liz Johnson. It wasn't until March of 1996 that the activity became an officially sanctioned sport of the Minnesota State High School League. Jen Kainz, one of the original dance team members, is in her second year of coaching the team.

Fourteen schools, both A and AA, are expected for the competition, the school's first. Teams compete in two categories: Jazz/Funk and High Kick. Participating in Class A are: Tracy, Jackson County Central, Cedar Mountain, BDRSH, New Ulm Cathedral, BOLD, YME, Canby, Nicollet, Minneota and Lac Qui Parle. Class AA schools are Worthington, New London-Spicer and Litchfield.

The upcoming competition will be a major fund raiser for the dance team with proceeds earmarked for new uniforms. A hallmark of danceline competitions, says Kainz, is the selection of a theme for the day. Tracy's theme, “Got dance” will appear on specially decorated program covers and T-Shirts which will be sold at the event. The group also plans to sell red silk roses with special tags. It's all part of danceline custom, explains Kainz -- parents and other team supporters purchase the flowers, and runners deliver them to team members prior to competition.

Until this year, any team that participated in three competitions was eligible for state competition at the St. Paul Civic Center. The increasing number of schools organizing dance teams, however, prompted the MSHL to divide the state into three sections, with tournaments slated in each section. Four teams in each class will advance to state competition.

Minnesota currently has 69 Class A dance teams, 80 Class AA squads and 73 Class AAA teams.

Twister choreographers are Katie Miller and Catie Macken. Seniors captains are Katie Miller and Samantha Rathje. Team members are Brady and Brooke Averill, Lisa Buysse, Chelsea Cambronne, Shanna Campbell, Elisabeth Fox, Lindsay Hemmingsen, Jenni Johnson, Catie Macken, Elizabeth Malmberg, Katie Miller, Ko Moua, Samantha Rathje, Brittney Scott, Emily Vandendriessche and Shannon Vylasek.

The doors will open to the public at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 15 at Tracy Area High School. Admission is $3 for students and $5 for adults. Elementary age “Music in Motion” dancers are scheduled to perform between events while judges are scoring tally sheets. Volunteers are still needed to help with the event. Anyone interested can contact Twister coach Jen Kainz.


Boys' defense turns up heat

The Panther boys' basketball team defeated Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at Tracy Thursday night, 60-51. The win improved Tracy-Milroy's season record to 4-4, and they are now 2-1 in the 212 Conference.

As the game began T-M was playing good, hustling defense, but the Falcons were shooting with a hot hand. The Falcons did not miss a shot until only 3:10 were remaining in the first period. By that time they had hit three, three- point shots and held a 13-7 lead.

The Panther defense held ACGC scoreless until the end of the first quarter and tied the score at 13-13. The Panther defense limited the Falcons to only two field goals from the 3:10 mark until the intermission intermission. The intermission score was 33-24 in favor of T-M with the Falcons supplementing the two field goals with seven free throws.

Meanwhile, the Panther's Jeremy Goltz was putting on quite an offensive show. He scored 18 points in the first half including one stretch when he hit four field goals and scored eight consecutive points for T-M.


Depleted wrestlers crunched at Granite Falls

Depleted by illness and injury, the Panther wrestling team placed seventh out of seven teams in the Dam Site Wrestling Tournament held in Granite Falls Saturday. Dawson-Boyd and Canby tied for the championship.

"It is difficult to do well in a tournament like this when you have as many people out as we did," said Panther Coach Joe Kemp. "We had to forfeit at three weights."

The Panther's Aldon Struchen plus Aaron and Derek Goettig are on the injured list.