Butterflies were fluttering as they made their way to the MAIS State Spirit Competition in Jackson.

The team had spent hours practicing and running through their routines.

Now all that was left was to “leave it on the mat,” and that is what they did.

Monday at the Jackson Coliseum the St. Aloysius Flashettes — the school’s dance team — danced their way to not one, but two state championships; one in jazz and the other in pom.

“The feeling was extraordinary and will be something I will never forget,” St. Al senior and dance team captain Bradi Davidson said.

Davidson said the team was not expecting to win both competitions, but they were overjoyed to have exceeded their expectations.

“When we heard our name all we could do was to just cry and jump up and down,” she said.

Chesley Lambiotte, who serves as the coach for the team, said this is the sixth year the Flashettes have competed in the MAIS State Spirit Competitions.

The Flashettes have always competed in two of the three competitions — jazz, pom and kickline — high school dance teams are allowed to enter and in all six of those years brought home a championship title in at least one of the three competitions.  This is the third time winning multiple championships.

“Last year we won the championship in jazz and got runner-up for pom. The team that beat us was Hartfield Academy, so we were trying really hard to get our state title back in pom,” Lambiotte said.

Like Davidson, Lambiotte said the group was not expecting to win two titles this year.

“We hoped for it and would have been really blessed to have walked away with one, but to walk away with both was just icing on the cake,” she said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team did not attend the week-long Universal Dance Association’s summer camp at Mississippi State University, rather they held their own camp in Vicksburg. Former Flashette team member Taylor Lee helped with the jazz choreography.

For the pom routine, Lambiotte said, the team pulled together elements of older routines they had used in the past.

The team is comprised of 12 members who are in ninth through twelfth grade.

Davidson was joined by fellow senior members co-captain Kendyl Rice, Alan Latorre and Sara Pratt; junior members Allie Boland, Sarah Jacobs Houser and Maggie Roberson; sophomore members Gabby Andrews, Ally Doiron and Karly Henderson; and freshman members Sawyer McCain and Grace Windham.