Lake Park High School dance team earns back-to-back state championships

For the second time, Lake Park High School's Lancettes earned back-to-back championships in the Illinois High School Association competitive dance finals held Saturday in Bloomington.

This marks the fifth title for the elite dance ensemble, which has qualified for the state championships in the 3A division each of the past 14 years. The Lancettes won back-to-back titles in 2022-2023 and 2025-2026.

Four-year head coach Francesca Leone knows well the pride these young dancers feel. Both she and assistants Lauren O'Brien and Cassie Spear are former Lancettes who competed on the Roselle high school’s winning teams.

Leone credited the victory to the talent and dedication of the 14 dancers and her fellow coaches.

“(They) are truly such hard workers. Without the time and effort they put in into practice they wouldn't be able to do what they did,” Leone said of the ensemble members whose winning routine was set to Charlie Daniels' “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Most of the Lancettes have been dancing since the age of three. Many also study dance outside of team practices, which last two to three hours and take place after school, four days a week.

The teenage performers develop more than dance skills, said Leone. They develop leadership and communication skills and learn what it means to be on a team and the value of perseverance, she said.

Before every competition, the coaches and dancers huddle up for a coaches' pep talk.

“We want you to do this for you. You put in the hard work,” Leone tells the girls. “It's not about winning. It's about feeling good about what you did on the floor because you deserve it.”

Other suburban schools to finish in the top 10 of the 3A division include: Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, third; Bartlett High School, fourth; Barrington High School, fifth; Maine South High School in Park Ridge, sixth; William Fremd High School in Palatine, seventh; and Buffalo Grove High School, ninth.

In the 2A division, Lake Forest Community High School placed first; St. Charles East High School placed third; Lake Zurich High School, fourth; Geneva High School, fifth; Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, sixth; Fenton High School in Bensenville, seventh; and Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, ninth.

Montini Catholic High School in Lombard placed fifth in the 1A division.