Dancers from Chicago's famed Trinity Academy of Irish Dance took high placements at the Mid-America Irish Dance Championships, held Nov. 26-28, 2010, in Chicago.  Coming in at the top are Naperville's own Elyse Smith and Meghan Sedlacek.

School wide, Trinity had a record breaking 16 gold medal placements in solo and team competition, more than twice the number of gold medals for any other school.  As the Mid-America Championships is the qualifying round for the World Championships, Trinity now has 44 dancers who are qualified to compete at the Worlds in solo competition in 2011, another first for the Mid-America region.  Of those qualifiers, 88-percent placed in the top ten and 77-percent placed in the top five. 

Trinity founder, Mark Howard, states, "We're known for being an internationally renowned team school, but the solo results both local and internationally have surged in the last several years. It's an exciting time for us because the adjustments we have made in the way we teach are paying dividends for our students. That being said, this competition didn't bring the results for some of our dancers that they had hoped.  In terms of training, those losses are just as important because of the life lessons that they bring. I know that in the long run, those placements served dancers just as well as the ones who came out on top."

Elyse Smith not only took gold in team dancing, but she also placed 14^th out of 117 competitors in solo competition, qualifying her to compete in the 2011 World Championships to be held in Dublin, Ireland from April 17-23.  Smith is a seasoned competitor, placing in the top ten at regional and national championships, as well as traveling overseas to both All-Ireland and World Championships.  Also a performer, Smith is a member of Trinity II, Trinity's performance group, and recently traveled to Toulon, France to perform in the 37^th annual Festival les Cultures du Monde.

Howard states, "Due to a great work ethic and unwavering belief in her self, Elyse has had a phenomenal dance career so far.  She is already a world champion in team dancing, a thing that has eluded 99-percent of North American dancers in the past 30 years.  Nothing has ever come easy to Elyse which is why her work ethic is so strong.  She is one of those students who uses disappointment to strengthen herself for the next competition.  This life lesson has shaped her into the strong young woman she is today, and there is so much more potential there.  Elyse is everything you would want in a sister, daughter or whatever.  What a great role model for our younger students."  

Smith is a sophomore at Neuqua Valley High School where she has lettered in JV track and won the President's Award for Educational Excellence.

Also of Naperville, Meghan Sedlacek placed 44th out of 145 competitors in solo competition and came in fourth in team dancing.  Sedlacek is an eighth grade student at Madison Junior High where she is involved in swimming, volleyball and basketball.