Mercer Island High School’s drill team experienced the gamut of emotions at the recent state championships. Throughout the competition, the Islanders were happy, intense and finally bittersweet after hitting the final pose in their pom routine.

Senior drill team captain Penelope Thomas said her tears flowed following the final routine of her four-year drill team career, which finished with the Islanders notching three state titles in the pom, military and kick divisions on March 28 at the Yakima SunDome.

“It means a lot, and it’s always nice when people recognize our hard work. It’s been really nice to end the year off like this,” she said. “The fact that we won in all of our categories that we competed in was insane and so exciting for the team.”

Thomas led the Reporter through the three routines, noting that military includes tight synchronization while the members sport intense faces; the Islanders’ legs go high and often during kick; and there’s heaps of energy in pom, which features copious turns and jumps.

Tiredness pays a visit at the conclusion of the meet, but it’s a good thing after all the Islanders have accomplished, Thomas said.

“It makes it so much more worth it when you’re with some of your closest friends and with people who you spend almost every single day with, countless hours with. It’s tiring, but it’s really fun, and we all enjoy it,” she said.

Thomas began her dance training with ballet at the beginning of fourth grade and then added tap, jazz and contemporary styles into her world. She estimates that she actually took her first dance steps at 2 years old.

“I think my dance training from when I was younger really helped me kind of embody the emotions and things like that,” said Thomas, who dreamed of joining a competitive dance team when the start of sixth grade rolled around.

Drill team soon came calling when Thomas attended a Mercer Island High School football game and witnessed the cool-looking drill squad performing with “humongous pom-poms.”

“When I found out that they competed, it got even a hundred times more exciting, so I started thinking about wanting to join drill in sixth grade,” she said. “So for three years, I also remember during COVID, I would be in my room trying to learn the splits and trying to watch all these drill videos so that I could hopefully make the team.”

Thomas was ecstatic when that dream came true, and now she’s part of a state championship squad.

The Reporter asked Thomas a series of questions to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life:

If you could go to dinner with one person, who would that be?

I would say probably one of my role models when I was younger. I remember one of my favorite dancers was Maddie Ziegler. I really looked up to (her) when I was younger just because of how well-rounded she was and everything. She’s pretty cool.

And if she came over to Mercer Island to have dinner with you, what would be a good spot on the Island to take her?

I would probably take her to Sushi Joa. My family and I get a lot of food from there, and so we’re really close with that restaurant.

What’s a binge-worthy TV series that you’d recommend?

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of “Suits” on Netflix. It’s all about lawyers and all of that, so I find that pretty entertaining.

Looking ahead maybe five, 10 years, what would be your dream job?

Well, as of right now, my thought process is I want to go to law school, and so that kind of fits in with liking “Suits” as a TV show.

What’s next college-wise? Are you decided for next year?

I’m not committed yet, but I have some options, for sure. I’ll be going out of state. I’m not sure where, but hopefully I’ll know soon. I know the deadline is May 1st, so I’ll definitely know before then. I’m sure wherever I end up, I know I’ll be happy, and I’ll make some pretty good friends.

You think you’ll continue on the dance route, or was this it?

I definitely want to dance in college. It’s been one of my goals ever since I first heard that college dance teams ever exist. I’ve been obsessing over college dance teams, I want to say maybe since sophomore year of high school, and so it’s definitely something that I hope to continue to do. I’ve been training for it a little bit these past couple of months, and so whatever college I end up going to, if there’s a dance team, I will be trying out for it, that’s for sure.

Well, you never know what’s around the corner. It might turn into a dance career, you know? If you’re in the right place at the right time, someone spots you, and there you go.

Yeah, exactly.