ROYAL CITY - The Royal High School Dance Team returned to competition this year, after not having been involved since the 1990s, and found success on and off the floor.

The Royal girls, coached by Kelly Collins, made it to the state meet as dancers. They also captured the trophy for state academic champions - again.

Expectations were low for 2012, since it was a new experience and money was tight, Collins said. The team wore regular season uniforms but was able to raise funds to purchase choreography from Danielle Fales of Ephrata, who was a member of the Ephrata Dance Team and a cheerleader for WSU.

After the surprisingly great results of qualifying for the District meet during the first competition, the team got serious and got to work. At Districts the girls got the exact score needed to proceed to State.

"The State Dance/Drill Competition was the highlight of the season," Collins said.

The team came in sixth out of six teams by .4 points, but this Cinderella team deserved to be right there with the seasoned veterans. Three of the judges had the team ranked in 5th place and one judge had them in third place.

Most importantly, the Royal girls maintained their record in academics.

The team's overnight trip to Yakima was funded by donations from MJ Farms, FABTECH Manufacturing, DAC Consulting, Ken Thompson Drilling and proceeds from the sale of State t-shirts and sweatshirts.

"There was a large group of family and friends who went to the SunDome to support the team, and the team was so thankful for their support," Collins said

This was the second year for Collins, who took over when longtime advisor Sharon Freeman stepped down. Collins has no background in dance but has joined the Dance/Drill Association, found mentors at neighboring schools and has read everything she could get her hands on, as well as watching many hours of dance team performances online.

Before becoming the finance director at the City of Royal City six years ago, Collins owned and operated a family-home daycare for 14 years. She has been involved with the Royal City Festivals and the Jr. Miss Program and her own children's activities for many years.

Collins noted the advisor position entails painfully early 6 a.m. mornings a couple of days a week for seven months.

"But it is worth it to see these young dancers grow in confidence and ability," she said.

The team gets a break from the early mornings for the next five months, but tryouts for the new season will be in April, and there will be fundraising activities throughout the summer and summer camp in August