SAUK RAPIDS, Minn (KWAD) — The 2025–26 competitive dance season is officially underway, and Detroit Lakes made its presence felt in both Jazz and High Kick at Thursday’s Sauk Rapids-Rice season opener. The meet featured eight varsity programs — Brainerd, Sartell, Sauk Rapids-Rice, St. Cloud, ROCORI, Detroit Lakes, Alexandria, and Willmar — and delivered a competitive early-season snapshot, especially in Kick, where Brainerd, Sartell and Sauk Rapids-Rice finished top-three.

Brainerd set the pace in Kick with a dominant 434 points and a clean sweep of top-tier marks across technique, height, creativity, visual effectiveness and routine difficulty, earning the meet’s lowest (best) rank total of 3. Sartell followed with 406 points and a rank total of 6, while Sauk Rapids-Rice finished third with 341 and a rank of 9.

Detroit Lakes placed sixth with 288 total points and a rank of 18. The Lakers earned solid mid-pack scores in technique of kicks (page 10), kick height, choreography and execution categories — including multiple 6s and 7s from the judging panel — and showed strong potential with room to climb as the season progresses. The median judge score for DL fell between 55 and 58 (page 13), illustrating consistency across the panel.

The Jazz division featured crisp choreography and tight scoring throughout. Sauk Rapids-Rice won the category with 17 total points, followed by Sartell (22), St. Cloud (34), Brainerd (37) and Detroit Lakes close behind with 49. Judges praised DL for its musicality and formation execution, giving the Lakers several mid-range marks — a strong early indicator as the team settles into its competitive identity.

The Lakers are back in action Saturday December 6th at ROCORI.

Sauk Rapids-Rice Invite