[ot-caption title=”The Powderpuff Halftime Show was quite the nail-biter, but the juniors ended up with the W. (via Brittany Shore, junior)”]

It’s that time of year again, the time when teenage boys dance around dressed in their most conservative and sophisticated attire while performing a very elegant dance routine. Powderpuff is when the boys and girls switch traditional roles; the girls get to show off their football skills on the field while the boys flaunt their moves during halftime. These performances are not something we take lightly here at Pine Crest; the guys, as well as their coaches, prepare for weeks prior to homecoming in order to master their dances. With different remixes and added props, the boys wowed the crowd this past Thursday on October 22nd, 2015.

This halftime competition is an event that lingers in the minds of the dancers and the coaches for weeks, as the nervous energy builds. What if they mess up and forget their dance? What if they drop somebody? What if the crowd boos in disapproval? These are common thoughts that run through the minds of the dancers just before they take center field.

Unfortunately, having the most experience didn’t work in favor for the seniors, since they ended up in last place. Even though they may not have taken the title for their halftime performance, the boys left it all out on the field for their last homecoming and celebrated their senior win for the Powderpuff game.

The freshman class followed the seniors, landing in third. Their dance was much more coordinated and exceeded many students’ expectations since this was their first homecoming experience. Even though they put in the effort, their moves just didn’t bring it in the eyes of the judges. The freshmen are not deterred though, as they promise to come back next year and blow all students off their feet.

Even though the snagged the runner-up title for their performance, the sophomores struggled to stay on track and focused during practices. Sophomore Powderpuff coach and Varsity Cheerleader Julia Packer commented on her grade’s efficiency during practices; she shared facetiously, “Practices with these boys went swiftly. It only took us coaches until about 45 minutes into practice to finally hide the basketballs. After that, it only took about an hour to get the aux cord back from Eddie. Other than that, they didn’t mess around one bit.” Sophomores came away with second place, almost unheard of in Powderpuff history.

The junior class ended up taking home the coveted prize, and are now able to call themselves the “2015 Pine Crest Powderpuff Halftime Show Champions.”  Anastasia Golovkine, President of the junior class, was ecstatic to hear the news. I didn’t want to interrupt her post-game high, so I met up with her later to hear her thoughts. She told me the guys worked extremely hard the week of Homecoming. She was especially proud of her motivating contribution; she exclaimed, “I even got them to wake up earlier to practice the dance in the morning by bribing them with bagels.” She felt that practices were always very productive and said, “On the weekend they usually lasted about two hours, with only about half of that time being designated to the guys wrestling each other.” Her biggest fear was that the guys were going to drop Brett Koolik, parkour hero and mini Ed Sheeran. She was relieved when he landed safely in the arms of all ten of the guys.

Obviously the guys were even more thrilled than their coaches. Junior Andres Soto says that making mistakes was not something he was concerned about. When asked if practices were productive Andres gave a smirk and said, “Oh boy. For every minute of dancing we’d probably go through 5 minutes of fighting and another 5 of fantasy football negotiations, so yeah I’d say we were productive.” Andres thinks the main reason for their success was the diversity within the group of guys; he added, “We have a special group of guys with a wide variety of personalities. I mean look at Andrew Bell; really anything he does is adorable. We also have Brett Koolik, who is rumored to backflip at any time.” He is excited for another routine next year; he explained, “Next year is a whole different animal. We’ll have everyone on the edge of their seats. We’re bringing the house down next year, so the Class of 2017 better be pumped.”

Overall, the halftime dances gave the school a good laugh. This tradition at Pine Crest is one of the most favored among the students and performers.  The Class of 2017 has the title now, but only time will tell if they will remain the victors of this halftime competition next year.