The St. Ambrose Dance Team is the 2018 Northeastern Regional Champion.

The Northeastern Regional Championship was held this past Saturday in Adrian, Mich., hosted by Siena Heights University. Winning the Regional Championship also awarded SAU one of four automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NAIA Cheer and Dance National Championship to be held in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 9-10.

The team competed against five other NAIA Colleges and Universities in their region as a part of the NAIA national qualifying process. After prelims, the Dance team was first going into finals with a small lead against Aquinas College. At the conclusion of finals, St. Ambrose was able to hold onto first place and win the Regional Championship.

"This group of ladies performed at their best," stated Coach Danelle Langeneckert. "After facing a season-ending injury to one of our dancers earlier in the week, our ladies had to make changes to the routine and still perform against a tough field of other great dance teams in the region. Our team has been hit by the injury bug all season and words can't express how proud I am of this group of ladies. Their ability to perform through some of the toughest adversity shows strong maturity and a desire to be the best for each other. I am very excited to see what these ladies can accomplish at Nationals in the next couple weeks."

Coach Danelle Lanageneckert also credited her coaches Claire Reisen and Heather Sturtz to helping get the team ready for this point in the season. "It is all around a team effort."