WCCO-TV featured the University of St. Thomas Tommie dance team as the program prepares for its return to the UDA College Nationals in Orlando. The 18-time national champion team is coming off a second-place finish last season and continues to compete at the Division I level under head coach Julia Harris, with dancers fine-tuning their jazz and hip-hop routines during an intensive training period ahead of the national competition.
From the segment:
The 18-time UDA national champs are coming off a second-place finish last season. They’re facing some of their toughest competition yet, as the University of St. Thomas transitioned to Division I.
But head coach Julia Harris says after 17 titles in the open division, they welcomed the new challenge.
“For our program, we were so excited to have this push to a new level and competing against teams of a caliber that stretch all across the U.S.,” Harris said.
The Tommies got a taste of winning in D-I only once when the current seniors were rookies. Ronkainen says that gives them motivation to finish their college careers on top.
