Kicking off their competition season, the Farmerettes competed in the Crowd Pleasers Competition at Seguin High School on Saturday, Feb. 17. The team won multiple awards including first place in jazz, hip hop, contemporary and pom and seventh place in the entire competition out of over 30 groups.

“They started learning competition material [since] August and we practiced through football season, squeezing [in] the competition routines,” head coach Shannon Dunham said. “Then through holiday shows, [we do the] same thing. As soon as holiday show is over, we really dive in full force into competition dances.”

The event took place all day and the team competed with four dances in the extra large division category.

“We had to get up at 4 in the morning to do our hair and makeup and then we had to be at the high school at 7 because our first dance was at 8,” senior lieutenant Dani Longoria said. “We didn’t get back to the hotel until 10 p.m., I was almost falling asleep during the awards ceremony.”

The squad stayed at the Hyatt Regency in San Antonio and had three days of leisure to tour the city before the competition.

“We shopped for the majority of the trip, exploring the River Walk and also visited the Alamo,” senior Carina Guerrero said. “At the end of our trip, we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. Walking through the caverns was a real workout and I noticed my legs were definitely more toned.”

The amount of time spent together while practicing and enjoying themselves in San Antonio helped the crew grow together as a team.

“I think we all kind of got closer because when [we were] chilling [in] the hotel, we’d always be in other people’s rooms, going around and braiding hair,” Longoria said. “We also had dance battles with other teams during the competition and there’s a video on YouTube about our whole trip.”

Even though the Farmerettes achieved numerous awards at the competition, Dunham believes the team’s performance and efforts matter the most.

“[I’m] very proud but I’m proud of them regardless,” Dunham said. “We talked about it before awards started. As long as they have performed to the best of their ability, it is what it is, because dancing is so subjective at the end of the day. But you know it’s always a nice bonus when they win all those awards too.”