High hopes, hard work and serious preparation at practices and competitions may lead the Liberty drill team to Nationals in California in early March. The Liberty drill team hopes to compete in the Military, Pom, Kick, and Homecoming categories.

Entry into the national competition will not be an easy task. Long-term preparation and dedication at practices is essential, as the team will have to submit a video of each of its categories of dance before going to State.

“The people on the Board for Nationals will judge our video. If our video matches the standards of the judges, then we will be allowed to compete,” drill team co-captain Theresa Nyguen said.

The new drill coach, Lindsay Starr, is training three other teams in addition to the Liberty drill team, and she has taken her teams to Nationals for the past several years. She believes she can take the Patriots because they possess the talent and potential to excel in challenging competitions.

“It would be a really fun and exciting experience because we have never been to Nationals,” Nyguen said. “Our coach doesn’t want to take just any team to Nationals and she definitely wants to take us this year because she thinks we will do very well.”

Even though the Issaquah School District has not approved the team’s potential trip to Nationals yet, the team is working harder than ever before in order to improve upon their success and to prepare for the competition. The drill team is stressing quality over quantity when learning certain skills and moves for the dance competitions this year.

“We have already learned our routine for State and some of the things that we learned will help us at Nationals,” sophomore Hannah Fadler said.

Drill practices three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, with its first major competition coming up on November 15, additional practices in the mornings before school and on the weekend will be held to advance its progress.

“We are preparing really hard right now and I think we will be ready and have the skills need to have a successful showing at Nationals,” Fadler said.