On Feb. 13, the Pacesetters left for the 2026 National Dance Team Championship (NDTC) and were double finalists for the first time ever. They also received two shiny trophies for 7th place in intermediate small pom and 13th in small varsity game day.
“It felt really great to finally get to go to Nationals,” co-captain senior Elise Pai said. “This is something we’ve been pushing for for the last four years. So finally getting to do it our senior year, and then do good, is really awesome.”
Pace qualified to nationals last summer and were told by their coaches Morgan Haworth and Maggie Mitchell in October. While nationals was always a goal they were practicing for, the team first needed to practice the state piece and make sure that was good before switching gears to Nationals.
“It was a lot of practice, a lot of early mornings and after school practices,” sophomore Jayden Latham said. “We had to re-format all of our dances right before we left, so that was a little stressful, but I felt prepared, it made our team closer, because we’ve been through so much together.”
When Pace got to Florida, they retained that busy practice schedule. They practiced “all day, every day, when we were able to” coach Maggie said. They went to team dinners to bond, had an official map practice on the competition floors, watched various Kansas schools compete, and finally, competed on Sunday and Monday while practicing in between.
Yet, while the Pacesetters had such an extensive schedule they also had time to have fun in Orlando. They went to Universal, made memories and had a good time.
Jayden Latham describes one of her favorite memories, “My hotel room had a conjoined door with one another. So we just left the door open all the time, and it was just like one big room.”
The past few years for the Pacesetters have been difficult with coaching staff turnover. But this year’s coaches and dancers alike strived to have the best season possible. They successfully did this and got their spotlight with an added prize of two trophies
“I was so happy for them… They were freaking out,” Morgan said. “I just think they’ve had some hard cards dealt to them, so we really wanted to make it happen for them, especially our seniors. They told me at the beginning of the year that that was a goal and a dream of theirs. So I looked at Maggie, and I was like, ‘we’re gonna make it happen for them.’ Seeing it all pay off at the end was so rewarding for us as coaches, but also for them as a team, because I feel like it made them believe ‘wow, we can do these things, and we can be awesome.’”
