In UCSD Dancesport’s first competition of the year, a small group of students attended the Solar Flare Dancesport Competition hosted by Arizona State University. For the first time the team has shown at Solar Flare, they made quite an impression at the American-focused competition.

In the International Standard events, UCSD dancers placed first or second in nearly all styles for Newcomers. Notably, couple Cole Spencer and Karsten West placed first in Newcomer Waltz, Tango and Quickstep, while Mars Bau and Ning Kuo placed second in Newcomer Waltz and Tango and first in Newcomer Viennese Waltz. In Bronze, UCSD also dominated the scoreboard with couple Cole Spencer and Ning Kuo placing as finalists in Bronze Waltz, Tango and Quickstep; and couple Mars Bau and Karsten West placing second in Bronze Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot.

In the American Smooth events, UCSD dancers faced stiff competition from the American-focused ASU dancers. In a first round of Bronze Smooth Waltz, all twenty-four couples were asked to take the stage, resulting in extremely crowded conditions and several collisions. Despite the competition though, Chloe Care and Karsten West placed first place in Newcomer Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz. Cole Spencer and Ning Kuo placed as finalists in Newcomer Waltz, Tango and Viennese Waltz for a strong showing. Ribbons continued to flow in Bronze with Cole Spencer and Ning Kuo placing as finalists in Bronze Viennese Waltz and Tango while Mars Bau and Karsten West placing first in Bronze Smooth Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot.

In the International Latin events, UCSD dancers continued to challenge their competitors. In Newcomer, UCSD continued to hold the first two places with couple Chloe Care and Karsten West placing first in Bronze Latin Newcomer Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive. Couple Mars Bau and Ning Kuo held second in those same dances and tied for first in Rumba. In Bronze, UCSD also did extremely well, with couple Chloe Care and Ning Kuo earning first in Bronze Latin Paso Doble and couple Mars Bau and Karsten West earning second in Bronze Latin Rumba and Paso Double as well as first in Bronze Latin Cha Cha.

After a quick dinner, UCSD competitors came back to compete in a final Nightclub round. Couple Chloe Care and Karsten West took the floor, and finished out the competition strong with Finalist places in Merengue, Bachata, and Nightclub 2-Step. All in all, UCSD Dancesport swept their competing categories and had an extremely strong showing at the first competition of the year.