The Austin dance team clinched its ninth straight trip to the Class ‘AA’ state meet in Albert Lea Saturday, but it was a little different than years past.

The Packers, who took second to qualify for state in high kick, have just four seniors on this year’s team after graduating 13 last year and they lost a couple of more dancers to injury in a car accident before the season.

Still, they finished in the qualifying top-three out of 12 teams and they just missed a berth in jazz as they took fourth in that category.

“This team has been through a lot this year and we’ve been very young,” Austin head coach Jennifer Sims said. “They’ve maintained composure and worked hard.”

Although they’ve been a perennial power in Section 1AA, some teams didn’t have the Packers on their radar this season.

“Some people thought we wouldn’t be here, having graduated two big senior classes the last two seasons and us being so young,” Sims said. “We talked about everything being possible before we competed and it’s pretty amazing (that we advanced).”