After previously competing at Mahomet Seymour, the Jacksonville J’ettes made their way to Belleville West High School the following weekend on Sunday, January 18 for their next competition. At Mahomet Seymour, the J’ettes competed for the first time this competition season. They received high scores from the judges and placed 1st in Open Pom, 2nd in Open Kick, and 4th in Open Dance. After having a full week of practices, the J’ettes were confident with the changes they made to improve each routine.
The first routine for the J’ettes at Belleville was Open Pom. The J’ettes hoped to improve their score 83 to 88. They were able to fix certain sections of this routine to spice it up and add more diversity to their formations. After their strong performance, the J’ettes were overwhelmed with their score of 88.9. They received 1st place once again with this routine and will be taking it to sectionals at Civic Memorial High School.
Their second and final performance of the day was Open Kick. At their previous competition, the J’ettes were defeated by Civic Memorial by only 0.4 points. They received 2nd place at this competition. With this tough loss in mind, the J’ettes used the judges’ critiques to enhance the difficulty of the routine. At Bellville, the J’ettes were more than successful with their performance. They received their second 1st place of the day beating Civic by 0.4 points. They will be taking this Open Kick routine to sectionals with them as well.
The bus ride home was a happy one for the Jacksonville J’ettes. After a successful day, the J’ettes moved up on the ranking and are currently number one in the state in both Kick and Pom. The J’ettes hope to continue their success into sectionals and hopefully state. Sectionals will be held at Civic Memorial High School on February 7. This will be a tough competition for the J’ettes since they will be facing their rivals (Civic) at Civic Memorial. The J’ettes are currently adding to both routines each practice and are anxious to see what sectionals will have in store for them. If the J’ettes qualify with a score of 84 or higher at sectionals, they will move on to State which will be held at the Convocation Center in Dekalb on February 14.