Greenbrier East senior Abby Dilly recently signed her collegiate letter of intent to West Virginia Wesleyan where she be a member of the 2022-23 competitive dance team.
Started in 2021 as a student-led program only, the dance squad is now an official school team and coached by Lesa Dencklau.
Per the official West Virginia Wesleyan website, Dencklau started the Missouri Valley College dance team in 2018. Prior to that, she spent two different stints as the Iowa Central Community College dance coach from 2006-11 and 2015-18. While the head coach at Iowa Central, she consistently led her team to the National Dance Alliance national championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Specializing in building programs from scratch, Dencklau will be right in her comfort zone, and with a former Spartan as the team captain this past season, Dilly found her reason quickly to join the team.
“I chose Wesleyan because of Haylee Shires. She was a senior my first year on the Images of Dance competition team and I have always looked up to her,” Dilly said.
The dance team competes in events and also performs at other sporting venues as well.
“The dance team performs at the school’s football and basketball games. They also perform showcases to rehearse for the NDA nationals in Daytona,” Dilly stated.
When she gets to campus in August, Dilly will begin working with her new team members, and that is something she is looking forward to.
“I’m beyond excited to be a Bobcat and begin dancing with my new team at WVWC,” Dilly said.
Although it is not an official NCAA sport yet, competitive dancing is a growing popularity on college campuses throughout the country.
