Heritage Talon’s dance team is Arkansas’ new best.

Talons’ dance team was first out of 12 other teams in the 5-6A Game Day division at the state competition, with a final score of 94.6, besting their competition by 4 points.

This earned the team a spot at UDA High School Nationals in Orlando, Florida. The Talons will be spending the next months perfecting their routine to be the best high school dance team in the nation. “Right now, we’re working on technique but closer to time we will be drilling our routines and trying to make them a little more harder and advanced to compete at the national level,” said Brett Gaffney (12). 

After winning state runner-up last season, The Talons dance team was motivated to bring home the gold this season. They put in countless time and effort into being able to finally call themselves state champions.

“Winning a state title in any sport is incredible,” Athletics Director Matt Murray said. “We compete in the hardest division in the state of Arkansas, the 6A West. Winning a state title in any sport, not only boosts that sport, but Heritage Athletics as a whole.” 

A big part of this team’s success was the support they received. The student section showed school spirit during the routine, resulting in the team having outstanding crowd
involvement scores.   

“I think that our team had the most energy out of the 12 teams in our division,” Coach Symphony Lockard said. “I really feel like that was our biggest strength and being able to have the student section down in Alma with us was really great! They were able to participate in our routine with us and do all the call-outs.”

The Talons will compete for the last time at UDA High School Nationals in Orlando, Florida, in February.