FREMONT, Neb. - A day after opening their season with a dual meet against Midland University, the Royals competitive dance team performed in their first-ever NAIA competition hosted by Midland University. The Royals placed third overall with a score of 72.20.

"Going into it I was excited and wanted to showcase their hard work, as well as my own, being a new NAIA competitive coach," Head Coach Christina Remijio. "Walking back onto my old stomping grounds and seeing the national banner on the wall that I won dancing with my team really made everything feel so surreal. All the memories came flooding back but I felt even more exhilarated to be in a leveled-up position as a coach with a new team. It's a different kind of pressure, but just as rewarding. I'm beyond proud of their hard work and it's only the beginning. We are ready to get back into practice and look forward to the rest of our season."

Midland University took the top spot with a score of 83.00, while Morningside University finished as a close runner-up with a score of 79.20. 

The final placings, in order, were; Baker University (72.00), Dordt University (67.20), and Northwestern College (57.97). 

"We decided to choose one word to focus on for the entire weekend as sort of a mantra to go by. We chose "present." We chose this word because it's so easy to walk into a room of dancers and start looking left and right, comparing yourselves to them, worrying about the outcome of the competition, and many other "what ifs.". The decision to stay focused on our team, doing our best, and staying completely present in each passing moment made everything that much more special," Remijio. 

Hope International will now prepare of their dual match against Vanguard on February 17th.