Canyon View High School’s Talons drill team wins Region 12 title

Canyon View High School Talons drill team at Region 12 competition, Castle Dale, Utah, Jan. 22, 2022 | Photo courtesy of CVHS Talons, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — The Canyon View High School Talons drill team recently won the Region 12 championship, taking first place in all three individual categories.

Canyon View High School Talons drill team at Region 12 competition, Castle Dale, Utah, Jan. 22, 2022 | Photo courtesy of CVHS Talons, St. George News / Cedar City News

The competition took place Jan. 22 at Emery High School in Castle Dale. Canyon View placed first overall, Grand County took second and host team Emery placed third. Also participating were Richfield and Carbon high schools.

The competition ended with the show category, with Canyon View performing a “Little Mermaid” themed number, which coach Nicole Mikkelson described as being “like an under the sea, mermaid versus Sebastian and Flounder routine.”

“The get to do props, hip hop and a character all in the one category,” she said of the show routine, which was an audience favorite.

“I think why they performed so well is because they were just out there to have fun,” Mikkelson added. “As soon as they walked off the floor, I had a couple of girls say, ‘That was so much fun!’”

Canyon View High School Talons drill team performs dance routine, St. George, Utah, Jan. 8, 2022 | Photo courtesy of CVHS Talons, St. George News / Cedar City News

But it is actually the Talons’ dance category routine that is the most challenging to perform, the coach added.

“We start out slow, and then it kind of turns into a high-energy jazz dance,” Mikkelson said. “It has a lot harder technique in it than the other dances.”

Mikkelson said the Talons, who comprise 34 girls in grades 9-12, are now getting themselves ready for the 3A state competition, which will be taking place next Thursday and Friday at Utah Valley University in Orem.

The top 16 3A teams will perform each of their three routines during Thursday’s semifinals (click here for schedule), after which the top nine teams will then perform again in Friday’s finals.

Winning individual all-region honors from Canyon View were McKinlee Urie, Regan Miller and Cali Hinton. Academic all-region honors went to Addy Pace, Julia MacInnis and Emilee Adams.

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