Drill: what an amazing first year. Third in state, several first place titles and even having their head coach claim the title of 4A coach of the year. On the highlights of a school, being the first year many of titles brought home to West Field have been those earned by the Westelles.
Being the first of many, Drill has been one of the best athletic programs at West Field. With 26 girls on the team this year, they competed in three routines; military, dance and show. On the roster, five seniors, nine juniors, ten sophomores and two freshmen.
Lainee Wilde, a junior on the Westelles, made some comments about coming into this season and her outlook on the Westelles, “I just knew from the start it was going to be a good season, just because of our friendship and our bond.” Wilde was so confident from the beginning and that carried on during the season. Starting off this year they competed at the Excalibur Classic at Murray High School. They were presented 1st in show, dance and military, taking home the 4A overall sweepstakes. This had them on a complete roll. After the Excalibur Classic they competed in the Davis Valley Classic. They came with energy again and placed 1st in show, dance and military, once again giving them the 4A overall sweepstakes. Following this competition, they competed at the Rocky Mountain Invitational at Alta High. There they took 1st in hip-hop and show, 2nd in military and dance and 2nd in 4A overall.
After competing in these thrilling challenges the Westelles prepared themselves for region. Entering region week the Westelles took the time to highlight every girl on the team. This just went to show how much they cared about each other. The region competition took place at Utah State University. The Westelles, once again completed their three routines (military, dance and show) and did incredible in all. They took 2nd in military and show, 1st in dance; giving them the 2nd place title overall.
“We were trying for that first, but third is great,” Wilde said. Then came state, placing third in state their first year ever as a high school and team. When asked about what they expected headed into the finals for state, WIlde made a comment “…we gave it our all and that is all that matters.” Coming off a hot season, taking third at state is absolutely incredible especially as a first year school.
A projection to next season? The high school as a whole will be moving up to 5A as the regions and school boundaries will be realigned. WIlde believes that next year the competition will be tougher but the Westelles will be even better next after this incredible first season.
In August the team took a team retreat to Bear Lake, Utah. There it seemed that the girls made many fun memories as the first team. They traded silly shirts, played some pickleball and shared stories around a campfire. “Just from the beginning I knew this team was different. Like, we were all so united and just all good friends at first.” Wilde stated. “ And if you have a united team, you literally can do anything and accomplish anything.”