Top 10 in the nation!!
Good afternoon, Coug fans!
Your very own Washington State Crimson Girls took to the national stage this past weekend (January 12th through the 14th) in Orlando, Florida where they competed in the UDA College Nationals, and their results were amazing!
Back in August I had the honor of chatting with a Captain of the Crimson Girls, Anastasia Trinidad, about all things CG- you can find that interview here if you want to refresh your memory on all the things that went into preparing for last weekend! She alluded to an exciting category they’d be working on for their Nationals competition, and it’s clear that preparation paid off! The team chose to compete in the Hip Hop section, along with Lyrical Jazz, which is the category they’ve focused on most.
They went on to place 9th in Hip Hop- earning a score of 85.9524. Their performance landed them a spot in the finals, and it was the first time since 2009 that Washington State progressed that far. They went against 18 other teams in this section!
For their Jazz performance they wound up placing 11th, with a score of 91.2857. There were 42 teams total, and below is a clip of their performance! Warning you now, it brought our photographer Ashley Davis to tears! But more on that shortly.
And, as another treat, our wonderful Ashley was able to join the team down in Orlando, so we’ve got all the pictures from both performances!
I got to talk to both Ashely and Ana about what the experience was like. From the outside, Ashley talked about how emotional the weekend was. She said things got particularly intense when the team found out they made the finals for hip hop, “everyone started screaming and hugging each other, and then they group hugged Payton (their head coach) … everyone was crying, and it was just a really beautiful moment.” Ashley also talked about how you could really feel the energy, passion, and love they have for each other – which translated beautifully, for their jazz performance in particular.
“I was just so proud of them and all the work they put in, it truly paid off.”
Ashley has worked closely with the Crimson Girls all year, and has been able to see these routines at every stage- from the initial exploration of the choreography to seeing it come to fruition at Nationals.
When I asked Ana what her experience was like, she said:
“This years competition was one I will never forget. As soon as we got there we were all so excited to show everyone what we’ve been working so hard on. Backstage no one was nervous, we were all so ready to perform with eachother. As a team, we went on stage feeling extremely prepared and grateful to just be together as one. Our team also left feeling so inspired by the amazing talent of the other teams we competed against. Along with competing, we had an army of support in the audience. Our families and friends were all there cheering us on the whole weekend. I am proud to say that we made history for our program this year, and I am glad I got to experience it with my best friends.”
This was clearly an especially impactful year, especially for seniors like Ana!
“I am proud to say that we made history for our program this year and I am glad I got to experience it with my best friends.”
Congrats to all the Crimson Girls on a wonderful season, and Go Cougs!