Courtesy of Molly Johnson

Organizing the practice lineup for the Central Austin Dance Challenge, Magdelyne Hang ‘28, Molly Johnson ‘28, and Bethany Kannar ‘28 help coordinate schedules with the teams. As SunDancer newbies this was their first time fully participating in a SunDancer run event. “Newbies class doesn’t have a lot of commitment yet because we’re just learning the ways of SunDancers,” Hang said. “It was a good introduction to see how the team works.”

On Saturday Feb. 15, the SunDancers helped organize and run the annual Central Austin Challenge for dance teams local to the area in collaboration with the Ascension Dance company. With the inclusion of teams ranging in age from middle to high school, the competition was fierce, and had numerous categories including different types of dance styles, team difficulties, and sizes.

Volunteering from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., all of the team’s members were assigned different tasks in blocked time intervals to help the competition run smoothly.

“We had different shifts throughout the day we sold tickets, got the teams lined up ready to dance, and did concessions,” SunDancer Erin Price ‘25 said.

As the hosts of the competition the SunDancers team did not compete as a whole, but three of the team’s dancers were able to compete their solos independently. As a result of their hard work, each of them placed in the top three spots which included Aubrey Phu ‘25, Elizabeth Burke ‘27, and first-place winner Polly Nickens ‘25.

“Winning first place was really special because it’s my first ever solo, my senior solo, so it felt like all my hard work was paying off, so that was a really rewarding moment,” Nickens said.

Encouraging the other teams, the SunDancers supported Warrior Pride in their feat of competing against the other ensembles in the categories of lyrical, jazz, and novelty. They fostered a welcome and energetic environment for them to perform at their best for the judges.

“It’s super fun seeing them around, being able to talk with them through dances, and cheering them on when we’re working shifts at CAC,” Loghan Smith ‘25 said.

Though the day was long and hectic for the SunDancers, the team felt bonded through their shared exhaustion and experience working at the contest.

“It’s really fun because we make a lot of memories,” Price said. “We’re all very tired since it’s a very long day, so we just kind of hit a point of tiredness that just becomes hilarious and we make a lot of good memories.”

After fulfilling their hosting duties, the SunDancers will continue to attend their own line-up of competitions. They will next compete at Dripping Springs this Saturday, Feb. 22.