The Lady Renegades Poms Team held tryouts Feb. 2 in the Fitness Studio at the Residence Center, 731 S. Plymouth Court, in hopes of welcoming new teammates for the spring 2015 season.

Mia Faye, a returning Poms team member and sophomore double majoring in business & entrepreneurship and dance, said she was unsure about the turnout at tryouts.

“Usually the fall semester is really busy,” Faye said. “In the spring semester there’s less people. I feel like everyone’s kind of doing their own thing. Honestly, they don’t really know about it enough. We have to get it out there more.”

Taylor Kaurin, a freshman dance major and also a returning Lady Renegade, agreed with Faye that the club needs to advertise themselves more.

“We need to be way more ahead of the game,” Kaurin said.

The two big annual events for the Poms team are Blood Ball, a dance hosted by the college, and Manifest, the college’s annual arts festival in May, where Poms members will perform two to three dances.

However, the Poms have been making progress compared to last season, Faye said. Funds raised through bake sales and donations from the college and the Renegades have been used to purchase the team’s baby blue and blazing orange uniforms, which the team could not afford before this semester.

Kaurin said saving up for uniforms was important for the team and they hope to raise money to travel to competitions in the future.

One new recruit, freshman dance major Leslie Ortega, said she was excited for tryouts after recovering from a torn ACL, which hindered her ability to audition last semester.

“I want to get to know more people,” Ortega said. “I’m a commuter, and it’s hard for me to get to know a lot of people.”

A love for dancing, though, is not enough to make the team, said Captain Haley Franker, a junior art + design major. Besides talent, Franker said she was also looking for recruits who are able to pick up choreography quickly and be able to get along with everyone. She said the team encourages everyone to try out.

“Somebody who’s a skilled dancer, they don’t have to be perfect, we’re open to all dancers,” Franker said.

During tryouts, the girls auditioning were judged based on an array of work across the floor such as leaps, jumps and kicks. In addition to judging skills, the girls were taught a few eight counts of a dance to the song “Problem” by Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea.

“I love to dance,” Ortega said. “The adrenaline rush is what gets me.”