We are so proud of our Trinity Team for shining on stage last week at the North American Nationals in Vancouver, BC, Canada!! 46 of our dancers competed at the 50th annual championship, 22 of them making it to the final round of dancing in some of the hardest competition that North America has ever seen.
Held at the Vancouver Convention Center, the 5 days of dancing was surrounded by the stunning views of Vancouver Harbour and historic Stanley Park. While dancers waited between rounds, they were able to take advantage of this gorgeous backdrop for well-deserved photoshoots!
The competition was steep, with over 3,000 dancers from all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia, that qualified to compete in the championships.
Dancers qualify for the North Americans through Regional (Oireachtas) competitions or by competing in the Open Championships level at feiseanna. A very small percentage of dancers worldwide make it to this level of competition, so to simply qualify is a dream for most. Several of our dancers even placed high enough to qualify for the World Championships, a competition so prestigious that only 1% of Irish dancers qualify to compete in!
We are so proud that our dancers were recognized for their dancing, but also for their achievements outside of Irish dance! Our gorgeous Sierra McNall was the Mid America recipient of the Irish Dance Teachers of North America scholarship for Individual Excellence. Placing 13th overall at the Championships, Sierra is a dedicated competitive dancer, as well as a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Company, an academic scholar, and incredible role model for all our younger dancers. This honor recognizes all that she has done to positively impact the Irish dance community in promoting integrity, sportsmanship, and kindness everywhere she goes. We can't wait to see what she will achieve as she begins her journey with Marquette University as a freshman this fall!
Overall, the North American Nationals were a huge success for the Trinity Irish Dancers! We are so thankful for our incredible teachers and staff for helping our dancers prepare for this competition. A special thanks to Michelle McNamara and Daniel Fehrenbach for traveling all the way to Vancouver to help coach all the dancers, your words of encouragement and presence were so appreciated by both parents and dancers!
So, how did team Trinity do?!
Twenty-two of our dancers made it through all Three rounds and into the final round!!!!
FIVE dancers Qualified for the World Championships (WQ) of Irish Dancing in Dublin 2020!!
FIVE dancers placed in TOP TEN!!
ELEVEN dancers placed in TOP TWENTY!!
Xander Janowski 4th
Kendall Woodcock 5th and World Qualifier!
Kelsey Parry 7th and World Qualifier!
Ryan Peter 9th and World Qualifier!
Max Strangber 10th
Zach Ortlieb 11th
Zach Fitzgerald 11th
Sierra McNall 13th and World Qualifier!
Bobby Hoock 13th
Margaret Nalley 18th and World Qualifier!
Luci Stocco 20th
Nieve Howard 22nd
Harper Good 24th
Ellie Gonzales 35th
Reilly Sedlacek 40th
Haley Gross 40th
Audrey Helmke 43rd
Gabby Huminsky 43rd
Maya Fitzgerald 44th
Cailyn Trant 44th
Taylor Griffith 53rd
The following dancers left it all on the dance floor and made huge strides in their training this year! We loved watching you perform and you left us beaming with pride! Some of these dancers were only a few spots away from making the recall. Congrats to all of you on great performances!
Shannon Smith
Mary Claire Michalec
Mady Shannon
Violet Muenzenberger
Aubrey Schleyer
Kate Pratt
Molly Tobin
Ashleigh Walesa
Maggie Sale
Micah Roby
Sarah Ann Huber
Cadence Bruch
Bella Gusentine
Ava Gusentine
Avery Boeldt
Kate Foley
Claire Riley
Caleb Fredrick
James Zavos
Kerregan Reilly
Kate Stranberg
Raegan Walesa
Morgan Moericke
Riley Collins
Megan Clennan
If you see one of these dancers in the hall, at a show, or just in passing give them a hug and a congrats! They deserve it!
Congratulations to all the dancers, teachers, parents, and the TBC for all of your support throughout the year. We are getting geared up for the Sylvan/Shakira Workshop in August and for the new 2019-2020 Season!!!