RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Concordia University Chicago Dance team hosted its second competition of the season, welcoming five schools to Geiseman Gymnasium for the Spring Cougar Collegiate Invite. The squad showed out and was crowned the overall champion out of the six teams.
 
Before the competition started, the Cougars honored their seniors, Gizelle Boyzo (Cicero, Ill.), Alexa Ciccia (Wood Dale, Ill.), Airam Mejia Torres (Addison, Ill.), and Amaya Moody (Berwyn, Ill.). "Today was for our seniors. It was a great day to celebrate them with strong performances on the floor," Coach Dirvelys Allen beamed.
 
The Cougars picked up a pom score of 60.9 to take first place in the category and scored a 61.5 to place second in the team performance category. Coach Allen said, "Our team continues to prove that we are a team that can overcome adversity. We worked very hard on Team Performance this past week and will continue to fine tune our routine by staying focused on our progress and remaining steady in our discipline. We feel proud of our progress and look forward to getting back into the gym to keep perfecting our routines. There's still work to be done."
 
Cienna Reed (Milan, Ill.) placed first overall in solos while fellow Cougar Kaitlyn Witnik (Franklin Park, Ill.) secured fourth overall. Addison Stewart (Rochelle, Ill.) also competed as a soloist, with all three dancers earning high praises from Coach Allen. "Our soloists did a beautiful job, each highlighting what they are good at. With the strong technical execution and lines in Kaitlyn's solo, the powerful tricks and professionalism with Cienna, and the beautiful and strong showmanship and technical execution for Addison, they represent the maroon and gold so well."
 
Coming Up
The dance team's next competition will be Saturday, March 21. The Cougars will head to Palos Heights, Ill. for the Trinity Christian College Dance Invite. Coverage for that invite and all things Cougar dance can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.