ROYAL CITY — Royal High School dance coach Makynlee Myrick said winning a state title is sweet, and community recognition makes it even sweeter. The Knights brought home their second straight state title in 1A/2A/3A military dance competition and finished second in the kick competition.

“It’s really cool to get recognition from our town,” Myrick said. “Dance has never been a big thing in our community, so I feel like the state titles have gotten our girls recognition for all the hard work they’ve put in. People are noticing these girls are really talented and that we’ve built up a program over the years.”

All dance competition emphasizes precision, but precision is the centerpiece of a military routine, Myrick said. Co-captain Karla Rodriguez said that makes for an eye-catching performance when all goes well.

“I feel like our military category can be very powerful, and really impress the audience because it’s so many sharp movements. I just like it because it’s very clean, (it looks) like you know what you’re doing. It’s super-clean, and it’s really cool,” Rodriguez said.

“I like how sharp it is and how intense it is,” said co-captain Maria Salas.

A kick routine requires a lot of stamina along with a lot of precision. Each routine is a maximum of three minutes long, and the team must be kicking at least 50% of the time.

“Kick is probably the hardest out of all dance categories, just because you’re kicking your leg up and down for three minutes,” Salas said. “It definitely requires a ton of core strength, which not all of us have.”

“I feel like for kick, you just have to have lots of energy,” Rodriguez said. “It’s very tiring at the end. But you also have to be very sharp and intense.”

Both captains expressed a preference for the military category because a good military routine can really leave an impression. Even an intimidating impression, Rodriguez said - and she thought that was kind of cool.

“It’s just something Royal is known for now,” Salas said.

The 2022 military dance title was the school’s first state competition at the top of heap. Winning the initial title and successfully defending it are testaments to the team’s hard work, Myrick said.

“The majority of our team, they literally come in with zero dance experience,” she said. “So we immediately start in the summer, just (teaching) drilling technique and conditioning. So going into the regular season they feel more comfortable.”

Myrick and her assistant coach get the team ready for competition, with the help of their captains, she said. But ultimately the team’s success comes from the commitment of team members, she added.

“I think, really, it comes from the girls’ work ethic,” she said. “You only get so much time over the summer, and we have limited practice time, too. So the girls that we have, have always worked really hard outside of practice, too.”

Salas and Rodriguez said success requires attention to detail, and it’s rewarding when it comes.

“Consistency - keeping what we did last year, because clearly what we’ve been doing in the past few years has been working for us,” she said. “Just keep on cleaning routines, staying late, adding extra practices.”

“In the end, I feel like all our hard work really pays off,” Rodriguez said. “(The work) throughout the summer, and during school, all the practices, they really paid off. Because we won state. That’s a big accomplishment.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.