In a stadium with 13,000 people, 12 women brave nerves and butterflies to perform at halftime during Wichita State home basketball games. 

“It’s a rush,” sophomore Sarah Van Asdale said. “I have been performing for 17 years and I still get butterflies in my stomach before we go on.” 

“It’s one of the best feelings in the world dancing at Koch,” senior Aileen Archiopoli said. “I love feeling like a part of the action.” 

Van Asdale is a first-year dancer on the WSU dance team. She has been dancing and performing in competitions most of her life. She took some time away from dance during her first year of college at the University of Kansas, but found her way back to WSU for the chance of a lifetime. 

“Coming back to WSU and trying out and making the dance team is one of the biggest blessings I have encountered,” she said. “In such a short time, I have met some of the most amazing girls who share the same passion for dance that I do.”

Passion, Van Asdale said, is what allows them to work as a team and put on an authentic show during every game at Koch Arena. 

Archiopoli has been dancing for 14 years and has been a team member for three years.

“The girls on the team are like my sisters,” she said. “Over the past three years I have made lifelong friendships.”

Those friendships result in polished routines for halftime performances.

“We put a lot of time in preparing for games,” Van Asdale said. “Getting the sidelines all together in unison is not an easy task, but so far we have done a good job.” 

Van Asdale and Archiopoli agree that managing their schedules with school and practice is the most difficult part of being involved in a sport. 

“It can be hard at times, but it all seems to work out and be well worth it when I’m performing with the team,” Van Asdale said. 

“It is a big time commitment but definitely worth it,” Archiopoli added. 

Similar to the cheerleaders, the WSU dance team will be participating in NDA College Nationals next year. In April, the team travels to Daytona, Fla., to showcase its routine in front of thousands of people. 

“This is huge for us and we are looking for as much support as possible,” Van Asdale said. 

The dance team also makes appearances at local charity events such as walk/runs. The women also hold a clinic for younger dance teams every year. They, like the cheerleaders, are ambassadors for the college and do more than lead sideline chants or dance at halftime.

School spirit is the main focus of the dance team, whose purpose is to interact with the audience at basketball and volleyball games. 

“We are here to support our teams,” Van Asdale said. “And to get the crowd as excited as we are.” 

“I love being on the Shocker sidelines,” Archiopoli said. 

The dance team practices its routines and sideline chants at least eight hours a week. While mistakes have been minimal for the dance team, Van Asdale says she cannot foresee a perfect future and expects to mess up a time or two as she continues dancing. 

“If I ever mess up,” she said, “I will do what I have been trained to do; to keep smiling and try to catch back on.”

Punishment for messing up often includes running suicides. 

“When something goes wrong it is embarrassing,” Archiopoli said. “You have to get over it fast and continue like nothing happened.”

Van Asdale said being involved on campus is an important part of her college experience. 

“Wichita State University is so diverse and has so much to offer,” she said. “Getting involved and being a part of a team really breaks down such a big environment, and makes it so much easier to get to know people.”