Newtown High School’s defending conference and state champion dance team will have to wait another year for competition due to coronavirus restrictions resulting in the cancelation of what the Connecticut Department of Public Health deems “high risk” sports (cheerleading and wrestling are other winter sports in the same boat).

It’s disappointing for the Nighthawks, but the squad, led by Coach Cheryl Stenz, is looking to make the most of the chance to practice and, potentially, entertain at basketball contests.

“While we were so thankful to have had a state championship last year — and winning — we were shut down three days before getting to compete at the New England Regional. We have been back together as a team since September and were very hopeful to have some sort of competition which helped us get through the fall. Now that we know we won’t be competing, we are working on our technique and focusing on getting stronger for next year,” Stenz said.

“We decided to work together to improve our skills through workouts, technique classes, and learning choreography — we are really getting to focus on building our skills both individually and as a team,” added the coach, whose team captured first-place South-West Conference and state Large Division Jazz category titles, as well as second-place finishes in the Hip Hop category at both championships.

Stenz said the team plans to dance if there are games with spectators. Protocol has competitors wearing masks, adding a new challenge for all athletes, but the team members have already made this adjustment.

“The dancers have been dancing with masks since they all started back with their studios back in June, so they are used to it at this point. They know they can walk away for a mask break if needed,” Stenz said.

Newtown is led by senior captains Jillian Reilly and Ava Schwartz, and junior captains Audrey Botta and Kyra Masone. Angelina Visconti is the only other senior on a underclassman-heavy lineup that will gain some experience for future seasons.

Freshmen are Emma Formica, Sofia Martinez, Sara Olam, Abby O’Leary, and Mackenzie Roszman.

Sophomores are Paige Armstrong, Grace Cappelli, Loo Gehie, Summer Gordon, Olivia McAndrew, Molly Moran, and Adriana Russo.

Junior team members, in addition to Botta and Masone are Emily Dunford, Caroline Hancock, Sammy Kuruc, Kylie Maddox, and Ericka Pontore.