Even though they’ve been there before, for the St. Thomas dance team, working toward a 7th national championship title is anything but routine.

Senior captain and three-time national champion Bethany Laiti has been dancing for the Tommies for four years and said a strong bond between the dancers has been a key to recent success.

“I think (our bond) really made a difference last year in how we were able to work on the national’s floor, so we wanted to keep that,” Laiti said. “That was probably our biggest goal, just to keep pushing the team. It’s had such a respectable reputation and we just wanted to keep that going.”

Laiti and the Tommies flew to Orlando, Fla. Thursday in hopes of making a 7th-program national championship a reality at the Universal Dance Association competition, performing in both the jazz and hip hop categories.

St. Thomas has won the last four consecutive titles, a familiarity that 10-year coach Alysia Ulfers said the team can’t ignore but sidelines come competition time.

“We know what the pressure is like to come back as a defending champion,” Ulfers said. “But at the same time, we know nothing is guaranteed. Just because something happened last year, we’re not expecting it by any means the next.”

Laiti said months of practice and studying new gymnastics techniques have helped the team feel confident that they’ll impress the judges again.

“We actually feel really comfortable, which is awesome,” Laiti said. “Our jazz routine is different than what we’ve done in the past, so we’re really excited to bring something new in that category. Then hip hop, we’ve been taking gymnastics classes, and so that helps us with our tricks and endurance. I think we’re getting really comfortable going into that category, too.”

While the Tommies will perform two familiar routines during the three-day competition, capturing that familiar title isn’t their main goal.

“Obviously we want to keep our reputation, but at the same time, it’s just about making ourselves better,” Laiti said. “If that ends up leading us to another national championship, that’s just kid of the icing on the cupcake.”

Briggs LeSavage can be reached at lesa4364@stthomas.edu.