The Mane Attraction dance team competed at the Universal Dance Assocation (UDA) Florida Regional Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports on January 18. The team came in second in the hip hop division out of 7 teams, and third in the jazz division, out of 6 teams.

Angela Futato, the team’s coach, believed the team had reached the zenith.

“We came out in third place in jazz and second place in hip hop which is the highest that we have scored since I’ve been here, for five years,” Futato said. “Teaching here at Oviedo, this is one of the highest points.”

The competition, according to senior and captain of the team, Molly Murphy, was fierce.

“In hip hop, we were only 1.12 points behind Coral Reef High School, which is a magnet school for the performing arts,” Murphy said. “So, you have to try out to get into the school and then into the dance team. That is the varsity that we compete against. They are literally the best of the best.”

Murphy believes that the team, as a whole, improved drastically.

“We came out a lot better than we did last year,” Murphy said. “Last year, we placed fourth and sixth and this year, we cut our placement in half with second and third.”

This success, claimed Futato, came through positive reinforcement.

“One thing that we worked on this year is to stay positive and motivate each other,” Futato said. “The chemistry is that you have to have respect for your teammates and keep that motivation going through out the season, but also to work really hard.”

The Mane Attraction will compete at the National Dance Team Championship on January 30.

“As a coach, I’m really proud of what they did,” Futato said. “I’m looking forward to Nationals and I hope we can stay motivated in the next week and achieve our goals for the year.”