OMAHA, Neb. – The College of Saint Mary dance team enters the competitive portion of its season on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Concordia Duals in Seward, Neb., and Coach April Allen is excited to see the results of her team's hard work.

"Every athlete on the team has a strong work ethic,'' Allen said. "Many of them put in hours outside of practice to improve their technical skills. They are a positive group of young women who excel in both drive and competitiveness.''

The Flames lost two athletes from last year's team in Karly Nothhorn and Beth Weatherly. They will be led by returners Evelyn Andrade, Hannah Elliott, Elizabeth Kenny and Zoey McFarling. Elliott and McFarling are juniors, and Andrade and Kenny are sophomores.

Allen expects pom section, team triple pirouette, solo and small-group highlights to be strengths of this year's team, while consistent uniformity in team turn sequence and staging will be areas in which they will continue to work to improve.

In terms of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, Allen has high hopes.

"I expect to be very competitive in the GPAC this season,'' she said. "All of our team elements are in the top two point ranges, so we just need to execute them on the competition floor. I expect to improve by several points between this week's Concordia dual and the GPAC Championships in March.''

Dance teams rely on leadership, camaraderie and commitment, and Allen likes what she sees in those areas.

"We have a few strong leaders on the team, whether it be vocally taking charge at practice, leading quietly by example or offering to take on tasks outside of team time,'' she said.