On February 14, the Jacksonville J’ettes competed at the TDI State finals in Dekalb, IL. Unfortunately, the outcome was not what the J’ettes were hoping for. After a long season, the J’ettes’ goal for their competition season was to be state champions in at least one of their routines. At State, the J’ettes received second place in both of their routines, 0.05 points away from first place in kick.
Upon their arrival at state, the J’ettes’ first routine to perform was Pom. Having been successful all competition season with this routine, the J’ettes were confident with their performance. However, they lost points in their technique which bumped them down to second, losing to Mascoutah. At sectionals the previous weekend, the J’ettes beat Mascoutah by a whole point, so this loss was tough on the Jacksonville J’ettes.
For their next performance, the J’ettes competed in the Kick division against Civic Memorial and Jersey. Having been successful against these two teams before, the J’ettes felt confident with their routine. However, at past competitions the Jacksonville J’ettes and Civic Memorial had received close scores. At their first competition, the J’ettes were defeated by Civic by 0.4 points. At the next competition the J’ettes were victorious, beating Civic by 0.4 points. The J’ettes were also successful at the following competition, beating Civic by only 0.2 points this time. At state, the J’ettes barely received 2nd place, losing to Civic by a mere 0.05 points.
Overall, the Jacksonville J’ettes competition season has been a successful one, with five 1st places, and three 2nd places. Next year, the J’ettes are determined to reach their goals as state champions.