‘Why not us?’: Laker Dance Has High Expectations For Themselves At Section Meet

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The first postseason competition of the winter sports season is this Saturday, with the Laker Dance team traveling to Sauk Rapids High school to compete in the Section 4AA championship meet.

“It’s really crazy how fast the season goes,” says head coach Britton Ramsey. “Looking back to our first regular-season competition to our last, which was last weekend, scores were very different. The teams that beat us in week one, we beat them last weekend. Knowing that we kept grinding and kept working and doing what we needed to do and go back and look at the difference and the improvement of this team feels really good.”

Both the Laker Kick and Jazz teams posted season-high scores at the regular-season finale in Monticello last weekend, with the Jazz team taking third place out of 15 teams, and the Kick team placing 10th.

“I think our head-space was a little different heading into this year, especially with a big section shake-up,” says Ramsey. “We knew that somebody new was going to State this year. Why not us? That was the mindset we went into the season with, and that’s been a huge win for our kids to have that, knowing that it can be us. Week by week, making those improvements, coming away from meets with trophies, and seeing scores get better and better each week has really given the girls a lot of confidence we head into the postseason.”

The Lakers will compete in the 15-team 4AA section meet against Albany, Alexandria, Becker, Bemidji, Big Lake, Foley, Little Falls, Monticello, Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, ROCORI, Sauk Rapids-Rice, St. Francis, Rock Ridge (Virginia, Eveleth-Gilbert), and Zimmerman.

“Our goal all season is to get back to State,” says Ramsey. “The top three finishers at Sections go to state. Our goal is to be Top-Three in Jazz and to place in the top half in Kick. Based on where we’ve been placing over the last handful of meets against other teams in our section, we have been doing some realistic goal setting. Over our last couple of meets, our Kick team has been beating teams like Bemidji and Pequot. They were beating us earlier in the season, and we were really close to Foley and Albany last Saturday. If we can get ten more points on the score sheet, that would put us in the top six or seven teams. In Jazz, we’re hoping that last weekend’s third-place finish is a sign of more good things to come, that we can get those same scores and have that same level of competition with who we’re against, and that would mean a State trip.”

The Section Meet begins at 11:00 am on Saturday at Sauk Rapids High School. Tickets must be purchased online prior to the event.

LISTEN: Laker Dance coach Britton Ramsey joined Zeke Fuhrman on the KDLM Sports Wrap on Tuesday morning to talk about the 2021 season and preview this weekend’s Section meet.