Now the Tritons find themselves in unprecedented territory, patenting a rare formula that establishes not just individual results, but a sustained standard of excellence.

Head coach Cassidy Vermeer’s squad was again the envy of the field at the 47th annual Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, as Iowa Central secured community college division championships in all three main competitions — Jazz, Pom and Hip-Hop — for a fourth consecutive season. The Tritons also earned the Judges’ Choice Award for their Pom routine for the first time ever.

“The main theme to our competitive season this year was ‘Legacy and Tradition,'” said Vermeer, a Fort Dodge Senior High graduate and former dance team member at both Iowa Central and the University of Northern Iowa. “Our dance team is built around so much tradition and things that we consistently do every year that we believe are so crucial and important.

“We always talk about and implement the fact that we must have a positive and welcoming culture to our team. Of course, we want to win and be successful, but it’s more important to us that the journey to get us there is enjoyable and memorable.”

Submitted photo: The 2022 Iowa Central dance team earned first place in Jazz, Pom and Hip-Hop for the fourth consecutive season at the ISDTC Championships in Des Moines.

Iowa Central found the best of both worlds again this fall season. With 13 returning sophomores and four team captains — Rianna Vivens, Mia Mortensen, Avery Wilson, and Sierra Mitchell — the Tritons were able to build from prior success without resting on their laurels in 2022.

“In the dance world, every single year is entirely different — especially in the Community College Division,” Vermeer said. “All (of the veteran squad members) have stepped up as leaders in their own unique ways. We are so lucky to have so many dancers come back to us this year with their experience, guidance, support and expertise to help lead the others. Dance teams on this level have a brand new team every year and sometimes even semester by semester. So we can never assume anything is ‘in the bag.’

“We stress that we cannot control what anyone else is doing…we can only control what we are doing. So again we continue to do the things that we feel have attributed to our successes in the past. We stress to our dancers that it is important to trust the process and always have positive mindsets, even when the going gets tough.”

Iowa Central’s consistency has been nothing short of remarkable. Under Vermeer’s direction, the Tritons have swept the trifecta of divisions in the community college bracket five times in the last six seasons. They have taken home 16 consecutive first-place trophies in Jazz and 10 in a row for Pom.

Winning all three titles at the same competition had never been done before 2017.

“As coaches, something that we really focus on is keeping up with the ever changing trends of dance and making sure we are providing those opportunities and experiences to our dancers: things like elite choreography, custom music and costumes, weight training, and number of hours of practice,” Vermeer said. “None of this would be possible to provide to our dancers without the support from our administration and athletic department at Iowa Central.”

Vermeer and her long-time assistant — South Central Calhoun graduate Stephanie Hood — rely on the captains to make decisions on everything from the specifics of routines and music to general program culture and chemistry.

“We coaches go to them for support, advice, suggestions and anything we need extra help on,” Vermeer said. “They have been our ‘right-hand (student athletes)’ this entire semester. They are not only talented dancers themselves, but they bought into what it means to be a member of the ICDT and implement our expectations and standards into their everyday lives.

“They help create the positive culture that is so important to us, and make sure the other members of the team are also following suit.”

Injuries are always a factor as the season progresses. The Tritons dealt with their fair share of adversity along the way.

“We had quite a few injuries, which meant some dancers had to sit out of certain practices or even had to be taken out of certain routines,” Vermeer said. “This meant we had to re-vamp, re-choreograph and re-block certain routines, which takes time and takes away from actually perfecting the routines.”

There are no secrets — or shortcuts — to success in Vermeer’s eyes. It takes focus, commitment and an altruistic attitude to walk the walk of being a Triton performer.

“We try to find a good balance of ‘Care and Candor,'” Vermeer said. “As coaches, we try to do everything the best that we can with love and passion. At the same time, we are very open and honest with our dancers and never want to lead them with false realities.

“We have high expectations and standards for our dancers and hold them all accountable, but at the same time, we let them know we have their best interests at heart and really do love them as if they were our very own.”

Iowa Central competed against Hawkeye Community College, Kirkwood, Iowa Lakes, Southwestern, Ellsworth, North Iowa Area Community College and Iowa Western.

In the high school competition, Fort Dodge Senior High saw two of its team members — sophomore Samantha Smith and senior Reese Pederson — place in the Top-10 for the first time in school history. Smith took third place overall in a field of 70 Class 9 Solo performers, while Pederson was sixth.

Six Dodger dancers, under the direction of head coach Emily Eastwood, earned Div. 1 ratings for state solo: Laila Taylor, Ella Sells, April Naeve, Kiara Agnitsch, Smith and Pederson. Fort Dodge was fourth in Class 7 Jazz; sixth in Class 11 Pom; and seventh in Class 7 Hip-Hop. All three routines secured Div. 1 status.

Pederson, Sells and Naeve have signed with Iowa Central for next season.

The ISDTA state event is the largest dance competition in the nation.