Offermann named Dancer of the Year and one of 10 Bee All-Americans
After winning the program's fifth National Championship overall, and the third National Title in four years, the SAU Dance Team was recognized with several individual awards.
Sydnie Offermann was named the 2026 NAIA Competitive Dancer of the Year following the 10th annual Nfinity NAIA Competitive Dance Championships. It marked the third straight year a student-athlete from St. Ambrose has been named the Dancer of the Year.
Offermann was also one of an NAIA-best 10 Bees named to an NAIA All-American team. The senior from Dyersville, Iowa, claimed first team honors for the fourth straight year.
Also earning first team all-American honors for the fourth time was Sara Gundacker, one of the 2025 NAIA Co-Dancers of the Year. Maddy Barnes was named a first team All-American for the third straight year and Shea Denahy was selected to the first team after being on the second team each of the last two years.
Karli Langley and Morgan Ford were also named to the first team giving St. Ambrose six of the 14 first-team honorees.
SAU also led the NAIA with four members on the second team as Grace Harms, Kyla Shaw, Brooklyn McBride and Hadley Irwin were recognized as second team All-Americans.
All-Americans are determined by the Dance All-America Committee (comprised of five coaches and one administrator). The top 14 scores (including ties) are first-team All-Americans, the next 14 (including ties) are on the second team, followed by the final 14 (including ties) on the third team.
The SAU Dance Team won its fifth Red Banner with an overall score of 93.37 to edge out Midland (93.10) for the National crown. The Bees' total score was the second-highest in championship history only to SAU's score of 93.40 in 2023.
Along with leading the NAIA with the five National Championships, St. Ambrose has had the NAIA Dancer of the Year each of the last three seasons. Josie Kaffenberger won the award in 2024 and shared the honor with Gundacker in 2025.