The Poms team starts practicing before the school year even begins by hosting tryouts in late May and prepping routines for the upcoming football season, second-year captain Hayden Frazier ‘26 said. They also attended the Universal Dance Association (UDA) camp and performed for the first time as a team there to qualify for Nationals. Once October hits, they begin perfecting their routines and enter competition season, which extends through February.

“Right now in the season, [we are] overcoming daily stresses, injuries, and illnesses that are a constant for winter sports,” Varsity Coach Brittany Smith said. “We continue to make changes and drill technique for our competition routines and do our best to not let anything get stale.”

This year, the team hopes to place higher than ever before at State, Frazier said. In the past, the highest their team has placed is sixth. LT has only been competing with IHSA since 2018. The team has been fortunate enough to qualify for state every year since, and is representing LT at UDA Nationals for the first time in Florida during the first weekend of February.

“Poms has been a part of my life since I was in high school,” Smith said. “Three of the four poms coaches were part of the LT Poms program when we were in high school. It is really special to us.”

After five or six regular competitions during the season, the varsity and JV teams competed at Conference on Jan. 19 at Hinsdale South High School. Both teams were named Conference champions with first place finishes. The varsity team went on to compete in Sectionals on Jan. 24 where they were named Sectional Champions.

“I think this year [Smith] has really been preaching positivity and having fun at practice because in past years we’ve tried to take it too seriously, but it ended up being so stressful because we only have one chance to go out on the stage for two minutes and not make any mistakes,” Frazier said. “It’s so much pressure, so maintaining who we are as a core and having fun, making jokes, and laughing even in serious times [has] really helped us take off the pressure [this season].”

The team often has 15-hour competition days and practices from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every single day, so staying positive is crucial, Frazier said.

“Each season is different, but we have been on a steady incline of consistent growth in dedication and determination,” Smith said. “Each year we have been getting stronger, and that makes the team want more each year.”

This year, Frazier and teammate Nora Foley ‘26 took over the task of choreographing all of the team’s performances, Frazier said. Since the two were already familiar with each dancer’s strengths, they were able to make it their own. Typically, the team hires a choreographer, but this year, with the coach’s input, the duo took on the challenge.

“Our first composition this year, from a choreographer’s standpoint, I was stressed out because this is the first time that we’re doing our own choreography,” Frazier said. “If we don’t do well and it’s the choreography, that’s on me. So I was stressed about it, but it turned out really well. We ended up winning a choreography award at the UDA. So it was first of all relieving, but like it was a good feeling to know that everything worked out and that we could just work on our execution and we’d be fine.”

The team has been in the top three of every IHSA competition so far, and they came in fourth at their first-ever UDA competition.

“I’m really happy with how the season has gone so far,” Frazier said. “Obviously, if we could go back and win every competition, that would be amazing, but that’s just not how it is. I think the whole team is really happy and we’re all looking forward to the next few weeks to see how we can do and it’s really coming together, so that’s good.”

The varsity team competed at State on the weekend of Jan. 31 and placed 2nd overall.

“I hope our dancers leave with an understanding of what type of work goes into having an unforgettable season, never having any regrets, and knowing they worked together to accomplish their goals,” Smith said.