By Staff Writer Jena Fakroddin

Senior Lindsey Field will never forget what it feels like to be a grand champion.

Along with her Entourage teammates, Field gathered in an anxious huddle, silently waiting for the winners of the show choir competition to be announced.

The moment Entourage was awarded Grand Champion, they could not contain their excitement. Field was one of the first members to jump up screaming with excitement.

“We all ran on stage hugging each other and posed for pictures with our medals we had just received,” Field said. “Everyone was so happy; it was an unbelievable experience.”

The mixed show choir, Entourage, was awarded best vocal sound. Entourage and the all-female choir, High Heeled Harmony, also received awards for best choreography, best instrumental ensemble, and was named Grand Champion at their first competition, held in Belmont, Ind.

However, the two groups would not have won such high awards without rigorous preparation and help from student leaders.

With about a hundred show choir members in total, it can be challenging for choir director Nicholas Janssen to provide additional personal guidance while teaching dance routines and vocals to the ensemble.

Student leaders were enlisted to help Janssen mentor other show choir members and assist Janssen with teaching each routine.

Entourage member Josh Dennison believes that this additional guidance is one of the main reasons why the show choirs have grown to be so successful.

Additionally, all nine student leaders are responsible for redirecting the choir’s focus once off-task.

“They keep us on the right track towards accomplishing our goal,” said Dennison.

With this recent success, Entourage and High Heeled Harmony have raised the bar for future competitions. As the season progresses, the two show choirs will be performing the same three songs that led them to victory in Indiana. Only this time, they will be raising the stakes.

“We will be enhancing the competition by adding in a tap dance choreographed by an Entourage member,” said Dennison.

While tap dancing is a fairly new addition to a show choir routine, the performers are already taking on the challenge with positive attitudes- they are determine to use this new technique to their advantage.

“As we keep challenging ourselves, we just need to stay confident and perform our clean routines as we know them,” said Field. “We just need to rock it out, and everything will fall into place.”