TULSA, Okla. — A local dance team is celebrating a big win at the national dance team championship in Orlando, Florida this weekend while another is upset circumstances kept from the same competition.
Most of us know what it's like to get that alert from an airline that a flight has been canceled. Both the McAlester and Jenks High School dance teams went through that but had different experiences.
For Jenks, their dance coordinator contacted Southwest to find another flight to make it to the biggest competition of the year.
"They were fantastic. I do not know who did this but somehow they were able to divert a plane and stopped here in Tulsa and got us to nationals and we are forever grateful,” said Tracye Stimson.
That allowed their team to make it to the competition floor where the Jenks varsity team placed 6th and the junior varsity came home national champions. Something they have been working toward all year.
“It’s a long year in preparation for that. So when you go and you have the success that we’ve had it really pays off and then of course the wonderful trip at the end of the year doesn’t hurt either,” said Kristin Phibbs the Jenks HS varsity coach.
Now for McAlester, it wasn’t so much of a happy ending. Their team missed the competition. Southwest wasn’t able to make the same accommodations for them in Dallas, Texas.
We reached out to Southwest Airlines for comment on how one team was accommodated while another wasn’t. A spokesperson got back to us saying:
It’s always our goal to connect people to what’s important in their lives and we apologize that we weren’t able to make the same happen for this Team. The operating environment last week in Dallas was quite challenging... In the interest of Safety, we significantly reduced the flight schedule at our DAL operation until weather conditions improved.
McAlester’s coaches took to Facebook saddened by not making it saying they are blessed to be safe from the winter weather and that they tried their best to get to nationals. They also thanked other teams and dancers for their support and love.
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