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It's the year for state championships in Bayfield.
After taking second last year in the 3A poms category at state, the Bayfield dance team was confident 2017 was the year for a Colorado title.
At the Denver Coliseum on Saturday, the girls won their championship at the Colorado State Spirit competition, taking the title with an impressive score of 84.9167, more than 10 points higher than Aspen's 74.5
The Bayfield girls were in the lead after the preliminary round on Saturday morning.
"I'm happy to end our year on this note," said Kelea Damp, one of three seniors on this year's squad.
Except they're not quite done. After taking Monday off, the team was back in the practice room on Tuesday, perfecting their routines for this season's basketball games. They come up with a new dance every week, with Coach Lori Nistler outlining the look of each routine, then the girls help finalize the moves and steps. This is far different from the big 4A and 5A schools, which pay choreographers for their routines.
"It takes hours to choreograph," said Peri Milner, a junior on the team. "We'll spend a lot of time getting just one move right."
The seniors on this year's team are also among the first to spend four years on the team. They took fourth place their freshman year, third their sophomore year, then they captured last year's second-place trophy.
BHS started having a dance team in 2012 after having one on and off for a few years prior. Capturing a state title in only five years shows how much the girls have worked during the fall and winter every year, Nistler said.
Milner said she and some of the other team members were nervous when they took the floor on Saturday, but she then she saw a sign one of the BHS cheer members had made with her name on it, and that gave her a boost of confidence.
"They're super supportive," she said of the cheer squad, which took third at Saturday's event in the 2A-3A coed category.
The dance team's evening started Saturday with a Parade of champions, with 50 dance and cheer squads that were finalists in the competition coming through the coliseum.
The team, known as the Wolverettes, had a nerve-racking day, performing early on Saturday morning, then not finding out until that afternoon if they were among the top two teams heading to finals. During their performances, they tossed their poms in the air, a rarity in state routines because if anyone drops one, it's a big deduction in points. Dance judges aren't supposed to show emotions during a performance, but Damp said she could tell they were impressed with the move.
Milner said winning state "is kind of surreal."
Fans often comment on how cute the dancers are, but they don't realize the hard work that goes into every routine, the team members explained.
Comparing their state title to Bayfield's 2A state football championship, "we did the same thing in five minutes," Milner said. "There are no substitutions. No one can take your place. You have to be there for the team."
Callie Jung, another senior, said having to focus incredibly hard to make a three-minute routine perfect is one of the challenges she enjoys in dance.
The dancers also don't get to see many of the other teams perform, creating another challenge to perform better each time.
Nistler said she hasn't wanted to focus on winning, but having the team perform better each time the girls step out on the floor.
The dancers gave much of the credit for their win to their coach. Nistler's choreography sets the Bayfield girls apart from other teams from around the state, Milner added.
When she tried out for the team this year, freshman Madison McInroy said she wasn't thinking much about state, but now that the team has won a title, she wants to keep improving.
Members of this year's squad are senior Claudia Vega, Jung and Damp; juniors Devry Michaeli and Milner, and freshmen McInroy, Rylie O'Connell and Madelyn Ratzmann.
The girls performed their winning routine at halftime of Friday night's boys basketball game.
