Get to know the 2025 dance team
Fresh off of first and second place wins at their competition in Gresham, the Lions dance team is in the midst of their season. The team is led by senior captains Ayla Gray, Lily Walsh, Brooke Thomsen, and Evelyn Morlan.
Differentiating from other sports, the school dance team continues competitions and performances throughout the school year. Technically starting their season in the fall, the team begins their year by performing at football games and assemblies. In winter, the team transitions to participating in competitions run by the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA).
Lily Walsh, senior, has been on the team since freshman year and is now a captain, as well as an all-state dancer. She believes there are multiple differences between dance and other sports.
“[It is a] community of not just one team, but all the dance teams that go to OSAA competition. It feels like one big family in a way, and everyone’s super supportive,” Walsh said. “I feel like you might not find that in other sports.”
Looking forward to the remainder of the competition season, Walsh believes that state is the best competition of the year.
“State is the most fun [competition]. Our coaches make it a great experience, and everyone is so supportive of each other,” Walsh said. “I love watching all the other show teams too, because you get to see everyone’s creativity as well as their art.”
This year the team had a choreographer from California teach a new dance, and Walsh finds the genre to be one of her favorites.
“I love any of the hip hop that we do, which is a lot different than what I’ve done in the past,” Walsh said. “We have our choreographer come out from LA, and she does that for us.”
At the recent competition in Gresham, the team won first place for Show Division and second place in Hip Hop. Along with competing throughout the school year, the team also performs at school events and assemblies, an upcoming one being May Day.
The athletes attended a media day held by the wlhsNOW staff. The story below features portraits of the dancers, as well as profiles about each individual’s history in the sport.

Back from a break during COVID-19, former ballet dancer Lily Walsh, senior, has progressed through the sport in different ways.
“I started with ballet when I was itty bitty, maybe five years old, and then stuck with that until I was 11,” Walsh said. “Then during [COVID-19] I transitioned and took a break. Then I came to the dance team when I was a freshman, which is different [from ballet] but I stayed around dance.”
Walsh started dancing because of her parents’ influence, but tried out for the high school team for other reasons.
“I chose the high school team because I had known people I really looked up to who were on it when I was little,” Walsh said. “It just seemed like a lot of fun and a good family, which is something that differentiates it from other sports or activities.”
As an experienced dancer, Walsh has accomplishments with the high school team specifically and has recently made the 6A all-state team.
“[I’m proud of] getting to be the lead in the contemporary [dance] in the fall, so that was exciting,” Walsh said. “Also, [one of my other accomplishments is] being a captain, and getting to mentor a bunch of really great dancers.”
Walsh views dancing as a release and a way to experience new interests.
“I have a lot of gratitude for the people around me and for my creativity, as well. I love getting to try new things, not just within dance but in general,” Walsh said. “[Dance is] a really good outlet for me to try different things because there’s so many different styles and techniques.”
Looking into the future, Walsh hopes to continue dancing in different ways.
“I don’t know if I’m gonna [dance] in any sort of professional way or on a state team, but I would just love to continue doing it, even if it’s just like a hobby that I do on this side,” Walsh said.

While he excels in the classroom, Brooke Thomsen, senior, sees dance as his passion.
“I’ve always thought hip-hop looked really cool, I remember when I was six, seven, eight years old watching music videos, and I just fell in love. And I realized that was something I would want to do when I grow up,” Thomsen said.
Once Thomsen reached high school, he made varsity as a freshman, and has been in every routine on varsity since then.
“Probably the most impressive thing I have done dancing wise, was earn a spot on varsity freshman year and be in every routine,” Thomsen said. “I strive to stand out the most in every routine and be my best, and put as much passion as I can into it.”
Although, junior year, Thomsen hit a setback fighting through shin splints.
“The shin splints junior year was probably the most painful thing I have probably ever been through in my life, mentally and physically,” Thomsen said. “I tried to dance through it for a while, but it ultimately just made it worse which led to me missing time on the dance floor. [That] killed me mentally. Knowing that I couldn’t be out there dancing really hurt.”
For his senior year, Thomsen describes a couple of upcoming goals.
“I want to win a drill at competition really badly. I didn’t get the chance to do that last year, so that’s my main goal for this season. Besides that, just being a teammate that the underclassman and really everybody can look up to,” Thomsen said.
After high school is done, Thomsen looks to dance in college.
“I think It would be really cool to dance in college, even If I can’t be competitive. I would love to participate in as many classes as I can, or maybe even teach a drill class,”Thomsen said.

While she has danced on and off most of her life, Kathryn Anderson, junior, felt that her passion for dance clicked in the seventh grade.
“I’ve always had a passion for [dance], and I love how we connect with music because I would say music is really important to me,” Anderson said.
Anderson looks forward to the state competition, where she feels most together with her team.
“We do a lot of fun things leading up to state, and we get to share rooms, and we get to room with each other, and we get to meet a whole bunch of new other teams, like some teams that we didn’t see at other competitions,” Anderson said. “So it’s really nice.”
When asked about her goals for the season, Anderson finds the importance of being with a team.
“I would say being more connected as a team because I feel like that’s really important to have a well-working team,” Anderson said. “I would also like to understand each other and I would say, work hard.”
Last year, the dance team’s show routine told the story of sleeping beauty, which ended up as Anderson’s favorite. Currently, she is excited about their contemporary routine to the song “Find A Little Light (Day Six)” by Will Samson, which will be incorporated into the team’s new show routine later in the season.
Outside of school, Anderson dances for the Lake Oswego Academy of Dance and hopes to one day pursue it beyond high school.
“I want to be on a college dance team. I’m really passionate about it and we’ll see in the future,” Anderson said.

With twelve years of experience, Ayla Gray, senior, is coming up on her second year as captain. Having previous experience with studio dance, she’s utilizing her love for the sport to give back to her team.
“For my team, I have a goal of unity,” Gray said. “Even though our grades are different, I want to be able to make sure everyone feels like they’re a whole team and feel comfortable being there.”
This season, Gray is putting efforts into strengthening her skill set as a dancer.
“This season I want to be able to grow my skills. I’m definitely more of a hip-hop dancer, but that means I want to grow some of my weaker contemporary skills so that I can round myself out,” Gray said.
Now standing as a senior, Gray had to overcome circumstantial challenges as a freshman.
“That COVID-19 year was definitely scary, being a freshman dancing in a mask,” Gray said. “To practice for three to four hours with a mask on, it got really tiring, so my biggest obstacle was definitely building my stamina as a freshman,” Gray said.
With a big focus on the contemporary genre, Gray is looking into collegiate-level dance as an option.
“One of the questions that I ask every time we go on a college tour is, ‘do you guys have a dance team, and if so, are you only performing at half-time? Do you do contemporary? What type of dance are you doing?’ Because I definitely do want to pursue it,” Gray said.
After continuous practice, Gray has discovered the rewarding aspects of competing on a team.
“Being that ‘family’ all day and growing together, it just creates such a sense of unity that’s just so powerful to me” Gray said. “The laughter, the giggles, and then working hard for a whole year, this is where it pays off.”

Mariel Garcia Cedillo, senior, began dancing in middle school doing ballet. This is her first year on the dance team and she was initially drawn to the team by their sense of community.
“[The dance team] seemed like they were such a fun family, like they were super happy to be with one another and they still put in a lot of work and are really great dancers too,” Garcia Cedillo said.
Garcia Cedillo doesn’t participate in dance outside of the team, however, she has found other ways to put her skills to use.
“I do some little dance stuff for the Latino Student Union club that I’m a part of,” Garcia Cedillo said.
As a new member of the team, Garcia Cedillo brings a different perspective to dancing.
“I guess it’s not really an accomplishment from other people’s perspective, but for me being able to get super comfortable with a routine and execute it to a point where I feel like I am doing my best is really great,” Garcia Cedillo said.
Dancing hasn’t come without its obstacles for Garcia Cedillo.
“I am still new to some of the techniques that we do, but I’ve definitely gotten better over time,” Garcia said. “I’m still not 100%, but I can see the improvement.”
Garcia sees dance as something she can continue to grow in.
“There’s this sense of accomplishment with everything that I do and then it’s also like you get to have fun with it,” Garcia said. “You can be super focused at times but there are also times [you] can just experiment with what you can do and that’s really great.”

Though she’s in her fifth year of competitive dance, Kaitlyn McCord, junior, began her dance journey in middle school after watching her school’s dance team compete.
“I really liked the dance that they did, and the music and just the atmosphere at a dance competition,” McCord said. “I really wanted to do that, so I joined my sixth grade year.”
McCord’s favorite type of dance is hip-hop, and she was with the team when they were awarded for their hip-hop performance at the state competition.
“[My] favorite routine [is] probably ‘Hammer Time.’ That one I got to teach with my other junior, [Kathryn Anderson], so it’s fun,” McCord said. “[My favorite artist to dance to is] probably Lil Jon. I mean, we did a hip hop routine last year to [his music] and all of the songs are really— you want to get up and dance.”
McCord’s dance journey throughout high school has not come without its challenges, such as some disagreements within the team.
“I faced a couple [of challenges]. I think that there was a lot of high school drama, that kind of applies in any high school sport,” McCord said. “Some of that was challenging, but I think that it made the whole team stronger [and] connected.”
The Lions dance team gets the opportunity to travel for competitions, specifically for state competitions. Last year, the state competition took place at The Pavilion in Salem.
“Last year at state, we got to have this really big outside space, and so I got ready in the sun and [we] played all these games, and it was a really good time,” McCord said. “[Dance makes me] really, really happy. It calms you down, and you’re by people who really care about you. It’s a really good atmosphere.”

Only starting her dance career in her freshman year, Evelyn Morlan, senior, has now worked her way up as a captain for the dance team. With Morlan’s love for dancing and performing motivating her to join the dance team, becoming captain was a goal she reached last year.
“Achieving captain last year, my junior year, was a really big accomplishment, because as a freshman having no experience, I really didn’t think I would have been able to achieve captain any year,” Morlan said.
Morlan also received the award of most inspiring dancer last year. Morlan is also looking to take the role as a leader once again this season.
“I really want us to work on conditioning so I’ve been trying to prioritize that in practices, just so that we can get everything stronger so that we are better technically, and we’re just stronger dancers,” Morlan said.
As one of the captains, Morlan has weekly meetings outside of practice with the other captains and their coaches to set goals and prioritize what they need to work on during that week.
“Not only do I get to be a mentor and a leader in practices, but then outside of practices, I get a say into what we focus on, which is really nice because then the things that we’re lacking, I get a say in making sure we get better at those,” Morlan said.
Looking forward to her last season, Morlan is excited to perform their hip hop dance routine to the Black Eyed Peas remix at the state championships. Last year the team performed a hip hop routine to the Lil Jon remix at the state championship, being one of her favorite dance memories.
“We didn’t place [at last year’s state championship], which was really sad, but it was definitely the best routine and the best performance we had, and that was really powerful,” Morlan said.
After high school, Morlan is not looking to continue dancing, but cherishes the memories she’s made with the team.
“I made my best friends off this team. It’s been awesome,” Morlan said.
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