 After months of hard work and fierce competition, Millard Middle School received the first state dance championship in the county's history. As a result of their win, Mountaintop spoke with students and school staff about their victory. It's an awesome feeling. I knew these girls could do it. I've taken a group of girls that had never stepped inside a studio, never had a first dance class, and brought them up to this level where they compete with other children who have grown up in a studio their entire life. So this is actually mine and Sierra's, the one holding the trophies first like year. And this is like really exciting for us. So it's very heartwarming to know that I've been able to do this for these kids. This school holds a special place in my heart. And I hope this is just the first of many. At Pikeville Medical Center, we believe that together we can make a difference in the fight against cancer. We are proud to have patients who have experienced successful outcomes over many years. As always, we believe in the power of faith. Pikeville Medical Center, where cancer can be defeated. With nearly 10 competitions and six county tournament wins under the school's belt, students say it was a challenge to get where they are as COVID-19 and injuries created obstacles along the way. Just over all the years, we've gone through so many competitions to get to this point, and we are so proud to say that we are the state champions. So basically, we trained for a couple of weeks to go to the site competition. And we left Friday night and we had this big send off at school. And we got to do our dances in front of our high school and we had a big parade. And we went down there and we competed in both our teams. And then we were sitting there waiting for awards. And they called our name, we got first place, we were super excited. We all started crying, it was so crazy. I'm really very proud of my team because we've worked very hard for this. Over the four years I've been on the team. All the girls that's been on the team have worked very hard. Especially this year, we've worked hardest that we have over all the years. And while students celebrate their win, Techit says they face schools with thousands of students, adding that with the school of just over 500, they were considered underdogs going into the championship. Principal Riddle says she is happy to provide experience such as this to its students. You know, a lot of students in rural areas don't necessarily get to travel outside. So allowing students to perform at a state level, getting to see their surrounding counties, getting to see all the things that is out there, just opens their eyes up to what their future could be. You know, introducing even into the college conversation and maybe, you know, what they might do in college. So this is just a major experience. So it's more than just a trophy, it's about their hard work, it's about the dedication, about teaching values. So it provides so much. We're excited about this trophy and their state championship, but even more about what it teaches them. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Korjol.