By Aly Miranda
They were ranked in the top ten percent in the nation. They received an All-American award at the Marching Auxiliaries camp in July. They’ve been practicing and preparing for this huge and great experience for the past five months. When the big day comes, they’ll be dancing with the Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleaders, the World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes, at the Cotton Bowl stadium.
Breonna Washington, DATA senior, Ashley Redding, DATA junior, and Becca Monreal, ETA junior, were chosen to dance at the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4, 2013 at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. The event is coordinated by the Marching Auxiliaries (M.A.) camp, which has been providing half-time entertainment for major bowl games for the past 28 years.
“They just sent us a video so we can watch the routines and practice from it,” patriot coach Alison Redding said.
The girls will dance with the Rangerettes during the pre-game, which starts at 6:30 p.m., and at halftime.
“Not a lot of dancers are chosen to dance with them [Rangerettes] that aren’t on their team and especially ones that are in high school, so I feel pretty lucky,” Washington said.
Coach Redding and the girls will be making their way to Arlington on Jan. 2, 2013, hoping to leave by 7:30 a.m.
“We’re renting an SUV that I’ll be driving,” coach Redding said. “We’ll be staying at the Westin Park Central in Dallas.”
They stay in Dallas for four days, and will be coming back on Jan. 5, 2013 in the evening allowing a day’s rest after performing.
“We’ve been working on skills and I’ve been staying after school to practice every day for this,” Ashley Redding said. “I’m really honored because I worked really hard at camp and I get to take advantage of such a great opportunity.”
The Cotton Bowl will feature the Oklahoma Sooners v. Texas A&M. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and it will be broadcast on FOX.
