<I>Contributed Photo/Shannon Woodcock</I><BR>Grant Union competes at the Sprague Dance Competition last Saturday.

JOHN DAY – The Grant Union High School dance team is a minute and a half from the Oregon State Dance Competition.

The Pros have spent the last four months learning their show entitled “Celtic Tradition,” but only have three and a half of the required five minutes completed. The team will spend the last two weeks of the season learning the remainder of the show. The Pros’ show is set to songs from the “Celtic Woman” album, and coach Shannon Woodcock said it’s about old-fashioned Irish courtship.

Woodcock said most teams learn their shows as the year goes on.

“Most of the teams we competed against last week at Sprague only had about three minutes of their shows done,” Woodcock said. “That’s how it usually works. I’ve talked to other coaches who have said the kids get bored when they learn the whole show and then polish it instead of doing it a bit at a time.”

Grant Union qualified for the competition earlier this year, but the team guaranteed themselves a spot in the finals with a strong performance during the Pendleton Dance Competition Feb. 17. The team scored a 62 at the competition.

A team must compete at an Oregon School Activities Association-sanctioned meet to qualify to compete at state, but they have to score 60 or greater during the season to qualify for the finals.

If a team doesn’t score at least a 60 before the competition, they get one final try during the preliminary round. All teams involved compete in the preliminary round which will be March 15. The qualifying teams advance to the finals. The winners are determined by taking an average of the scores from the preliminary and final rounds.

Grant Union team captain Laci Powell said finding out the results of the Pendleton competition was overwhelming for her.

“I was so excited I pretty much cried,” Powell said. “I was worried all year that we weren’t going to do it. It was such a good feeling for everyone. We didn’t know if we were going to pull it off.”

The Pros were unsure of themselves because the team only had two competitions remaining to qualify – including Pendleton. They are also a young team, comprised mostly of sophomores. The team has nine sophomores, three juniors and one senior. On top of that all four upperclassmen joined the team for the first time in December, just as the season was starting.

Woodcock said the team needs to build confidence and show it to the judges and audience.

“The biggest thing we need to work on is confidence,” Woodcock said. “They need to have the confidence in our routine to be able to perform and not just follow the steps. All of the kids work hard, but they need confidence.”

Grant Union wrapped up the regular season at the Sprague Competition Feb. 23. The team’s total score dropped to 52, but Woodcock said it’s typical for scores to get lower as the state competition gets closer because judges begin to get tougher.