2021 NAIA Dance Championships Book

FRIDAY-SATU R DAY M ARCH 12-13, 2021 LE E LOHMA N A R ENA ST. AMB ROS E U NIV ER SIT Y DAV ENPORT, IA

MUSTANGS ADD TO GREAT PLAINS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE, NAIA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOTALS CRETE, NEB. – Head coach Alisha Knowler’s Mustangs punched their ticket to the NAIA national championship Feb. 26, winning the 2021 Northwest Qualifier and claiming the 2021 GPAC Championship title in the process. Their team title marked the second straight and third all-time in conference terms and third all-time and first since 2014-15 in regards to the regional.

In the final round, Morningside turned in a 91.80 point performance, besting the entire field, and accounting for 75 percent of the Mustangs’ final score of 90.92.

“It meant a lot to achieve what we did,” reflected Knowler. The team really came together and put in the work to achieve its goal.

“I’m beyond pleased with the outcome and the performances we had!” exclaimed Knowler. “To go back-to-back is hard, and it feels really good knowing that we accomplished that.”

Morningside’s 88.27 points in the preliminary round trailed only Midland University’s 88.33, leaving the Maroon in second place headed to the finals. This preliminary round score accounts for 25 percent of the total score.

“The mindset never changes from one performance to the next. We always want to improve from each competition, so we’ll still look at our performances and see what we can do to improve at nationals and continue to work hard for the next couple of weeks.”

Morningside has qualified for the NAIA national championship five times, appearing in every event since the NAIA added the sport in 2017.

2021 MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE NAIA CHAMPIONSHIPS ROSTER Cassandra Allen Hope Carrier Camryn Chamber Emily Duffek Bryn Groff Brooke Harvey Jocelyn Hendrix Payton Leavitt Madison Mahr Isabelle Majeres Sydney Palmer Haley Potthoff Samantha Snyder Taylor Strawn

Fr. So. Fr. So. Sr. Fr. Fr. Sr. So. Fr. Sr. Jr. Fr. Jr.

Omaha, Neb. Council Bluffs, Iowa Essex, Iowa Tabor, S.D. Sheldon, Iowa Kingsley, Iowa Council Bluffs, Iowa Marcus, Iowa Sioux City, Iowa LeMars, Iowa Raymore, Mo. McCook, Neb. Marshalltown, Iowa Sioux City, Iowa

Head coach: Alisha Knowler Student coach: Sydney Palmer

MORNINGSIDE ALL-TIME NAIA ALL-AMERICANS 2020 Rebecca Clarke Brynn Groff Madison Mahr Diego Marquez Allison Wright Payton Leavitt (Honorable mention) Samantha Stark (Honorable mention) Taylor Strawn (Honorable mention) 2019 (All honorable mention) Bryn Groff Kayla Inlay Diego Marquez Danielle Plathe Miranda Shipley Taylor Strawn Jenna Winkler Alison Wright

2018 Kayla Inlay Miranda Shipley Jenna Winkler Jessica Bennett (Honorable Mention) Nicole Hahn (Honorable Mention) Danielle Plathe (Honorable Mention) 2017 Kayla Inlay (Honorable Mention) Miranda Shipley (Honorable Mention) Jenna Winkler (Honorable Mention) Erin Oliver (Honorable Mention) 2015 Erin Oliver (Honorable Mention) Kara Bentz (Honorable Mention) Alli Martin (Honorable Mention)

ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES

Emily Duffek

Bryn Groff

Payton Leavitt

Isabelle Majeres

Jocelyn Hendrix

Haley Potthoff

DANCE Samantha Snyder

Taylor Strawn