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‘Friendly rivalry’ builds between show choirs

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

The Spotlighters show choir from Craig High puts on the moves during a set at the Milton High School Show Choir Invitational on Saturday.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

The Craig High Show Choir, The Spotlighters, puts a big finish on its set with the Van Halen song "Panama" at the Milton High School Show Choir Invitational on Saturday.

MILTON — The stage is set like a Hollywood teen flick, complete with singing and dancing.

Shot One: The esteemed Milton High School show choir, Choralation, highly successful in its three decades under the leadership of director Bill Schrank.

Shot Two: Spotlighters, the Janesville Craig team that has climbed to the top tier in its sixth season. The team is directed by—and here’s where it gets good—Bill Schrank’s brother, Bob.

But don’t expect more than a little friendly competition between these talented and passionate teams, the directors said.

“For the most part, we’re supportive of each other,” Bob said.

In fact, the Schranks deliberately entered their teams in different tournaments this year. Milton and Craig will face each other only once in 2009.

Saturday was Craig’s turn to show its stuff at the annual Milton High School Show Choir Invitational. As the host team, Milton did not compete, though it did perform.

Results from the competition were not available at press time Saturday night.

Craig’s program has come a long way since Bob Schrank started it five years ago after his sons, Ben and T.J., went through the Milton program under their Uncle Bill. Ben now choreographs for the Spotlighters and Rising Stars, Milton’s prep team.

Senior Kristina Londo has seen the Spotlighters get better and better in her four years on the Craig team. It had made the finals in 11 of 13 competitions before Saturday’s event.

The team broke a new barrier last year when it defeated Choralation for the first time at a meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“That was monumental,” Kristina said.

But the Schranks started to sense tension. Milton and Craig competed against each other in four of six competitions last year, a rarity in show choir. This year, the directors decided not to let that happen.

“It’s nice not to compete against the same schools all the time,” Bill said.

Both Milton and Craig are off to good starts this year. Choralation took fourth runner-up and first runner-up in its first two competitions, and Spotlighters won its first grand championship ever at the Central Wisconsin Show Choir Spectacular earlier this month.

Bob and Ben watched Milton compete in the finals of its most recent competition to support Bill and scope out the competition, Bob said.

“We talk about (show choir) stuff all the time,” Bill said. “We talk about groups and how they are.”

The two teams will face off in a rematch of the Cedar Rapids competition in March.

And even though Choralation dance captain Ashley Preston has friends on Craig’s team, she’ll bring her A game that day, she said.

“There’s a friendly rivalry there,” she said.