Herriman Drill team heads to state, on to nationals

The Herriman drill team could fill up a display case with all the awards it’s accumulated, and the year’s not even over yet.

The Mestenas head to the state championships at UVU Feb. 3 after placing fourth overall in the Region 7 competition Jan. 18 at Hillcrest High. The team took third place in the character routine and Sydnee Strong took third place in the Drill Down competition. Kimmy Montoya is the Region 7 Drill Down champion.

“To compete in Drill Down, you have to follow a series of military commands. It takes a lot of focus and effort just to be able to follow directions and listen, and to win is quite an honor,” head coach Alison Bleazard said.

Kelli Bowles, Taibree Woods, and Kaitlin Bruderer were named to the all-region team.

The team competes with seven routines: military, dance, character, lyrical, hip hop, officers and kick.

The team also participated in three invitationals this year. The first was the UVU Drill Invitational Dec. 3. The team took first in the officers’ dance, first in lyrical, second in hip hop and also received the award for the Best Sportsmanship.

The team competed Dec. 10 at the Excalibur Invitational at Northridge High School in Layton. Ten A teams competed and the Mestenas took third in officers’ dance, third in lyrical, and fourth in character.

The team competed Jan. 7 at Clearfield High School. The team took third place in the military routine, fourth in officers’ dance and fifth in dance. Taibree Woods won Drill Down champion, Kimmy Montoya took second place and Bowles took fifth. Tanesha Bland took first and second in the jazz and lyrical solo competition.

Bowles is the team captain and Bruderer is the co-captain. Junior representative for the team is Brittney Simmons, sophomore representative is Lareesa Roberts, Secretary is McKenzie Kearns and historian is Brandee Lockhart.

The team will also travel to Florida for the Champion Dance Nationals the first week of March for the first time.

“This year has been an improvement,” Bleazard said. “The team has come leaps and bounds compared to our first year and that’s with their technique, talent, and attitude towards drill team.”

The team practices every morning at 6 am, Monday through Friday, and during competition season they also practice two to three Saturdays a month. Team members also take a technique class on Wednesday afternoon.

“The time and effort they put towards drill is a huge amount,” Bleazard said. Each team member is also required to keep a 3.0 GPA. “They work really hard scholastically as well as athletically.”

Team members named to the academic all-region team included Montoya, Strong, Bruderer, Bland, Cierra Taggart, Summer Burch, Kaitlynn Fisher, Jade Bagley, and McKenna Halcom.