She was overcome by absolute exhilaration when she heard “the first runner up is Marquette Center Stage’” roar over the speakers. Rachel Pevehouse, junior, said she was able to see all of the team’s hard work and determination finally come to fruition.

“We just knew were really proud of what we had done during this past year,” Pevehouse said.

She said the team has become really close which makes competing together even more enjoyable.

Show Choir hasn’t made finals since 2010, Pevehouse said. So, when the team made finals in two out of the three competitions that had a finals round, it was a jubilant capstone to a memorable year.

Jason Winter, show choir coach, said the surprise and excitement he saw from everyone was inspiring for him as a coach to see the joy they felt.

At the first competition, Center Stage missed finals by two points and came in seventh place overall. In the second competition, the team placed fifth in finals. At the third competition, they placed fourth in finals. In the most recent competition, the team placed second overall and won best choreography.

“I think as a team and as a group they really built each other up and were really positive with one another which made a huge difference in how they grew and achieved this year,” Winter said.

Currently, the team is preparing for their spring show that will take place on April 14 and 15, and then for the audition process for next school year which happen on from April 20 to 22, Winter said.

“It is all about finding that starting point to jump off and pick up where we left off, so we will do things during the summer to get everybody to level so then we can kind of move forward into the fall,” Winter said.