The Purr-fections dance team placed second in the jazz category and fourth in the pom category Monday at Universal Dance Association regional championships, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Disney.

“There were a lot of very talented schools in our state like from Orlando and Miami to name a couple,” junior Macie Goldfarb said. “A good portion of the schools we go up against are for only the performing arts, so they get a lot more technique prep and practice than us.”

Sophomore Lindsey Hoffower was pleased with the teams results.

“We were competing against a lot of teams, in both jazz and pom, and we were against some really good teams,” Hoffower said. “They had amazing routines. Pom was our hardest category, which we placed fourth in. Jazz we actually placed second by 0.2 of a point. So that’s a win for me. Like 0.2 of a point is nothing. That’s like a pointed toe or like your arm to your head. That’s just like amazing that our team has gone that far. From getting last place to getting second.”

Goldfarb lamented a missed opportunity.

“Overall the competition was very successful,” she said. “Earning second place in jazz gave us mixed emotions because although we were so happy with out placement and high score, we were only 0.2 points away from the first-place team. So technically, we could have won just by fixing one tiny mistake in the dance. But like I said, we were still overjoyed and thankful for how we did.”

The dance team’s next competition is the Contest of the Champions national tournament in March.

By Lasya Damaraju