Pine-Richland High School’s Dance team participated in the annual Varsity Spirit Universal Dance Association summer camp at Slippery Rock University in July, earning several awards and qualifying for the UDA National Competition February 2-4, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. The team earned a blue ribbon, superior rating and overall 1st place in the team competition.

Seniors Aleta Amend, Charlotte Baic, Lily Heiligenstein, and Ella Schneider earned the Varsity Spirit All American UDA Award in the All-American competition. They are invited to perform in London’s New Year’s Day parade in addition to other varsity events. 

All 15 team members received blue ribbons (highest honor) for jazz, pom and hip hop routines learned while at the camp. The Pine-Richland team was the only team to have all team members earn blue ribbons. 

All dancers in attendance participated in a Drill Down competition on the last day to challenge dancers on memory, effort, precision and performance. Junior Maria Sciullo placed 1st, while sophomore Sophie Whiting placed 2nd and ninth-grader Alaina Cafardi placed 3rd. 

The team earned the 110% Award from instructors, selected as the team who demonstrated their best effort every day of camp. Pine-Richland was also awarded Super Spirit Sticks for being the most spirited team at camp. Senior Charlotte Baic and junior Victoria Roccia earned Pin-It-Forward Awards for leadership and effort, while juniors Ari LeDuc and Victoria Roccia and ninth-grader Alaina Cafardi earned special recognition ribbons for effort, leadership and positive attitude.

Pine-Richland’s Dance team has earned a superior rating and qualified for nationals at every UDA summer camp.