Madison Central High School dance team wins NDA National Championship

RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ) – When COVID hit, the Madison Central High School Dance Team didn’t let anything slow them down.

Instead, they worked as a team, and it paid off this past weekend.

“I was shocked,” said Ryleigh Blythe, senior dance captain. “I was like ‘oh, my gosh!’ I burst into tears.”

Those were tears of joy. The dance team won the National Dance Alliance (NDA) National Championship for its game-day performance this past weekend in Orlando.

Blythe, still in disbelief, said the road leading up to the competition during the pandemic wasn’t easy.

The team had a COVID outbreak despite following safety protocols. Head dance coach, Mary Margaret Brumley, said they had to get creative.

“We learned very quickly how to utilize our time, and we just came to working through Zoom and videos,” said Brumley.

The team didn’t know it would be flying to Florida to compete until March when the school board approved the trip.

“It’s been a dream of mine since the 8th-grade year to go to nationals and win,” Blythe said.

She adds while she was happy with what the team had accomplished, she wasn’t going to be satisfied until they won. She believed that this was their year.

Before the team took off for Orlando, there was another obstacle.

“The front windshield of the plane in the cockpit, it had basically cracked and kind of done a shattering across the front windshield,” described Brumley. “The pilot and people on the plane said they’ve never seen anything happen like that before.”

The delay lasted 4 hours while they waited for a new plane. Instead of sitting, they danced.

“We ended up practicing right there in the airport,” Brumley said.

Once in Orlando, Blythe’s dream became reality on-stage.

“You just have a rushing feeling in your body, and you’re just ready to go, and you’re ready to kill it,” Blythe describing what it’s like under the bright lights and loud music with family cheering them on. “It’s just excitement and nerves and all of that in one.”

Not only did they win their division in the game day category, but they also had the highest score across all divisions. The team was runner-up in jazz and third in pom.

“Nine of these girls will be graduating, and, of course, their senior year has definitely been different than what they would have ever anticipated,” said Brumley. “So, it just makes it that much sweeter to know they have some silver lining to this crazy senior year they’ve had.”

A year capped off with a national championship that not even a pandemic could take away.