Shorecrest Hip-Hop Coach Named Coach of the Year

Coach Rex Kinney was awarded "Coach of the Year" by the Washington State Dance/Drill Coaches Association for 1A/2A/3A schools.

Kinney said he was honored to receive the award and thanks all the parents and principal Pat Hegarty for nominating him for the award.

Dance/Drill Coaches from the Washington voted for the nominees which included Jodee Calahan (West Valley Spokean), Melodie Griffin (Sunnyside), Kim Hille (Tumwater), Shannon Saucier (North Thurston), and Lindsay Star (Decatur). Rex Kinney has been coaching and choreographing for the team since 2001 and will look to his 11th season with them next year along with community team adviser, Robin Martin. 

Shorecrest competed at the WIAA State Dance Drill Championships last weekend and took home 2nd Place in a highly competitive 3A Hip Hop category on March 25th at the Yakima Sun Dome.

It was a close competition with the top 3 teams being 4 points within each other receiving a "Superior" score rating for each. Shorecrest received a score of 480 out of 500 just a few points behind Sunnyside High School with their score of 484. Pasco High School took 3rd place with a score of 476.

Teams are judged by 5 judges and it was just a matter of a half point to a point from a few judges that made the difference in the overall score. All the teams this year at State had improved tremeandously and it made for a tight competition to end. Going into the competition, the team knew that everyone was seeking for that top spot that had been previously occupied by Shorecrest for the past two years. The Shorecrest Hip Hop team was disappointed after doing so well this past year but was happy that it took a trophy back home.

The team will look at this as an opportunity to grow and and be hungry to do well again next season. The team will have 5 graduating seniors this year with 11 juniors and 3 sophomores remaining. Shorecrest will audition new members May 2-6th to prepare for next season. Their coach, Rex Kinney will look to bring in more underclassmen to team in anticipation for a big Senior class exit at the end of the 2011/2012 season. 

The Shorecrest Hip Hop team will also be performing for Seattle Theatre Group's production of "Dance This"held at the Moore Theater this summer in July. They will have an opportunity to perform with several local and national professional dance companies including the Mark Morris Dance Company.