April 18, 2024

Grand View dance gets PCM’s Kuecker

By Troy Hyde

Prairie City-Monroe senior Lexi Kuecker has won several awards during his high school dance career. She will dance at Grand View University starting in the fall. (Submitted Photo)

Prairie City-Monroe senior Alexis Kuecker thought about attending Des Moines Area Community College in the fall and moving on from all athletic competitions.

And that would have been a much cheaper route financially.

In the end, Kuecker just wasn’t ready to give up on something she loves and decided to extend her competitive dance career and will do so at Grand View University.

“The decision for Grand View came with whether I wanted to dance or not,” Kuecker said. “If I wasn’t going to dance at the collegiate level I was going to start out at DMACC and then transfer after that. I just couldn’t give up on what I loved to do, if I could do it for a little longer.”

That opportunity to dance longer came at Grand View University and with head coach Stacie Horton.

“I chose Grand View because the administration and staff were so helpful and happy that I was coming to their college,” Kuecker said. “They made me feel special, and the whole atmosphere was just what I was looking for. Along with that, the dance team has been successful, and the coaches and girls were so welcoming.”

Kuecker has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She moved over to Steppin Out Dance Studio in Monroe when she was 8.

Kuecker made the PCM drill team as a freshman and the Mustang dance team were state champions in hip hop and novelty during her senior year.

She auditioned and made it on to the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team all four years of high school and received Division I awards for competing in the state solo competition.

Another reason why Grand View was a good fit for Kuecker came down academics. She plans on majoring in nursing and minoring in Spanish. She’s already completed her CNA courses at DMACC

“With what I eventually want to do, their programs were ones that fit me best and could meet my needs,” Kuecker said. “Their campus is beautiful and not too big, but big enough that it wouldn’t feel like high school.”

Kuecker said she didn’t know many of the dancers already on the team but tried out for the Grand View dance team with Monticello’s Anisa Krouse and both will be attending the school in the fall.