Newton High School Senior MeLayna Budinich will be performing at the Iowa State Dance Team Association’s Solo Championship for the fourth year in a row. She advanced to the Solo Championship last Thursday by placing in the top ten at a qualifying event at Pella High School. Budinich says she started dancing when she was two, while at the dance studio her mother owns. She is a member of the Newton Pacesetters, and is the first Pacesetter in program history to qualify for the State Solo Championship all four years of high school. Budinich found that hard to believe.

“I honestly asked Graham if she checked all the statistics because I didn’t think that was true. But I guess it is. It was really like a ‘wow’ kind of moment.”

Graham Sullivan is the Sponsor for the Newton Pacesetters. Budinich says she does want to perform on a college dance team and is thinking about attending Central College in Pella. She’ll be performing at the Iowa State Dance Team Association’s Solo Championship Friday, December 6th. The High School Team and Solo Championships will be held at Wells Fargo Arena and Hy-Vee Hall along with the College Team Championships that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  An event schedule is to be released this weekend. MeLayna Budinich is the guest on today’s Let’s Talk Newton.