MISSOULA — The growth of the University of Montana dance team as a competitive program has been rapid and successful the past few years.
But a few weeks back, that work reached a mountaintop as the UM dance team took first place and won a national championship in the Division I small pom category at The College Classic in Orlando, Fla.
"It's unreal, surreal," UM dance team head coach Alli Baumgardner said. "Never did I think that in our third season we would have a national championship title. I am just so proud of the girls. I'm not surprised, though, because they work so hard. They're so dedicated to this. They want this addition to our program."
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It was UM's third time competing at nationals after the Griz made history doing so back in 2024.
Knowing what to expect this year, the program was dialed in with a goal firmly in sight.
"This year we really, I feel like, locked down kind of everything we need to be a complete dance team for the University of Montana," junior Kendall Hanson said. "Game day-wise and also for nationals, we figured out the perfect balance and also just like emotionally, mentally, like team culture is the biggest part of dance, honestly. I think more than people realize, like you have to like be best friends and sisters, like all bridesmaids to have a team work together and dance."
"Every single girl on this team is such a hard worker," senior Lily Halvorson added. "You know, we all have school. We all have jobs outside of dance and school. And balancing that with all the games we attend throughout the year, I think that mindset has really helped the program just leap upwards. And I truly can't wait to see what it does when I leave."
The buildup to nationals begins in the summer, as the dance team balances competition practices along with gameday duties across UM athletics, as well as everything else going on outside of dance like school, jobs and more.
"September, October, we have our choreographers out here and we carve out time," UM assistant coach Chantel Kaaihue said. "Usually Sundays we'll do four-hour, six-hour practices, squeeze in games. November's tough — we'll do football, volleyball and basketball and competition practices. So, we really just stay focused all year long."
Earlier this month, all of that hard work behind the scenes was front and center in Florida.
"That feeling of trying to harness all of those nerves and all that preparation and all that pressure and trying to stay calm as a team is something that I think is really challenging, but I think that this team is really good at," Halvorson said. "Watching everybody in their individual process of what it means to prep for a competition is really interesting to me. And it's fun to see how a team gets hyped up and then calms down right before we enter the stage."
Then, the moment of truth.
"I just remember like squeezing my friend's hands so tight and I was just like, oh my gosh," Hanson recalled. "And then of course they go, 'Second place goes to ...' and pauses for, it felt like a lifetime. And then they said not our team. I think all of us just like collapsed onto each other. I'm like mouth wide open about to cry. Like I don't even know how to feel. And then they called University of Montana for first, and it was just like, I looked ridiculous. I was like so happy I didn't even know what to do."
The team also finished third in the jazz category, another competitive placement with more challenging choreography. Along with Halvorson and Hanson, the rest of the women who competed on the team at The College Classic included Sydona Young, Leena Wachtel, Riley Campbell, Hailey Maughan, Emma Pazzulla, Natalie Montoya, Julia Kunau, Claire Kelley, Reagan Hudiburgh, Kalee Gisolo and Cassie Jukes.
But more than anything, the nationals win was another step and validation of the program's growth and continued shift, as it continues to climb higher and higher and represent Montana along the way.
"This sport is very tough. Your best is not always the best. You could give it your all. You can do your best all year long, and it's still not the best," Kaaihue said. "It's pretty tough, hard to understand. It's more of a subjective sport, not as objective as others. So when you get to that point where your hard work does get received, you actually get to walk away feeling like you did it. That's absolutely amazing."
"This is truly a dream team. I wish I could be on our team right now. This is all I wanted from the program when I danced here," added Baumgardner. "I just feel like the best word to describe all of this is just surreal. None of this feels real. I can't believe that I'm even a small part of the growth of this program. I genuinely have put my entire heart and soul into this team, so this is, yeah, this is amazing."
