Augustana dance heads to first UDA national competition

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Augustana dance is en route to the Universal Dance Association national competition for the first time in program history.

Augustana dance didn’t have a competition team before the 2025-26 season. The Vikings are now nationals bound in their first ever year on the scene.

“There is a lot of excitement,” Augustana head coach Betzi Plucker said. “There is a lot of anxiety but in a good way. We are really proud to be here and all the work that we’ve done.”

“It’s really nerve wrecking like usually off to the side like there’s the dancers, there’s the cheerleaders, but never actually watching us,” junior Paige Wachal said. “It’s really exciting to have that spotlight on us throughout this whole experience.”

The community showed out to help Augie prepare for that spotlight with a performance on Sunday afternoon that featured the team’s competition routines.

“It is a big, big deal when you know that everybody in the crowd is there for you, cheering you on,” Plucker said. “Just to feel fully supported from all angles, from your teammates, from your coaches, from your crowd. It’s an amazing feeling.”

“I hope it shows the community how driven we truly are and how we’re not just on the sidelines, but really want everything and we want to show how good we are,” freshman Eliza Ricker said.

This first nationals bid is not only an opportunity for the Vikings to show off this years talent and hard work, but to open the door for the spirit program to grow.

“We hope that this is the foot in the door that takes us farther,” Plucker said. “We would love to bring out cheer team along in the future. They’ve got lots of opportunities. We can include our band, we can include our mascot so it can really just continue to grow.”

“Our saying for this year is set the standard,” sophomore Grace Straus said. “No one from Augie has ever done this before so we just want to really put the college name out there and make the university proud overall and show what Sioux Falls and South Dakota is.”

The Vikings will begin competition at 7:24 a.m. on Friday in Orlando. The entire competition will be streamed on Varsity TV and the FloSports app.

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