Onyx Step Team won first place at the Second Annual Show Up and Step Out Step Show Feb. 3, up from second place the previous year.
“I definitely thought we were going to get second, but when I heard Truman got second, I thought, ‘Oh, no, we’re winning,’” sophomore co-captain Trinity Bates said. “There was no way we couldn’t because we brought so much energy, and they lost so much energy. I feel like we did so well executing it, and I’m so proud of all the girls.”
North Kansas City High School’s 23rd Street Steppers and Black Student Union hosted the competition. Bates said preparation was intense, and weeks of practice went into the routine.
“We did a lot of working out; we did a lot of cleaning and rehearsing the same parts over and over again each practice,” Bates said. “Usually, we have practice twice a week, but with the competition being so fast, we had practice four times both weeks, practice on the weekends and practice on snow days.”
All of this preparation pled to a first-place victory for the team.
“I’ll never forget what it felt like hearing those words,” co-captain freshman Alexandra Huffman said. “Hearing ‘Onyx’ and ‘first place’ in the same sentence, it was immediate applause, screaming, crying. It was a feeling that you really can’t explain.”
There was one competitor they were concerned about.
“Honestly, it was kind of going to depend on what Truman High School brought,” Huffman said. “Based on our reputation, it was kind of up in the air. It could have gone either way, but once we saw what everyone else brought, we were confident that it was going to be us.”
While it was the first year Janay Orange was the team’s coach, she was the head choreographer the previous year for their second-place win. She said she was extremely proud of the girls.
“They did phenomenal with the practices that we’ve had,” Orange said. “I can definitely say that I’ve pushed them to their limits, but I think that they can go even further, which I’m very excited for with our next two shows. I’m not going to lie, I had my doubts, but after seeing them perform, they brought it together, so I’m very proud.”
