Dance places third in GPAC Championship, fourth in NAIA qualifier

CRETE, NEB. – A long day of dance culminated in a third place finish in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Dance Championship for the Mustangs as they competed in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Dance Championship and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Northwest Regional national qualifier, scoring a total of 83.53 points in the dual purpose competition.

Morningside started as the third performance of the day in the preliminary round, where the Mustangs placed second, scoring a season-best 84.40. The preliminary round score accounts for 25 percent of the team's total score.

Performing in the second-to-last position for the finals Morningside laid down another solid routine, scoring 83.23 points, with 75 percent of that score contributing to the total.

The GPAC held its auditions for all-conference honors following the team competitions, where nine Mustangs auditioned against the NAIA-established standards for additional honors. Riley Dohren was Morningside's lone recipient of the all-conference designation, while Hannah Dillehay, Morgan Goebel, and Danielle Thompson all received honorable mention nods.

The Mustangs will wait to see if the culmination of the season's efforts can get them an at-large bid to NAIA nationals, with the qualifying field announcement set for March 18.