A tap dance quartet from Greene County placed fourth in the championship of the 55th Bill Riley Talent Search at the Iowa State Fair.
Members of the quartet are (from left) Karli Anthofer, 15, and Hannah McConnell, 15, both of Jefferson, Kami Badger, 18, of Bagley, and Kate Sandage, 18, of Grand Junction. Badger and Sandage graduated in May. McConnell and Anthofer are sophomores.
The fourth place trophy came with a $1,000 cash prize.
Tyler Gathercoal, 22, of Grand Junction, was also selected as a finalist for the championship with his original drum solo. He did not place in the top five among the 10 finalists.
Classical pianist Roberto Gemignani, 15, of Gilbert placed first. Classical vocal soloist Emily Solo, 21, of Clive placed second, classical violinist Renee Brechtel, 20, of Urbandale placed third, and classical pianist Shana Liu, 14, of Urbandale placed fifth.
The 10 final acts included the tap quartet, Gathercoal’s drum solo, two violin solos, two vocal solos, two piano solos, a lyrical dance duet, and a yo-yo routine.
Ava Schilling, 8, of Jefferson sang in the championship as a Sprout finalist. Aside from a quartet of sisters, Schilling was the youngest Sprout finalist.
This summer 102 local qualifying competitions were held as part of the Bill Riley Talent Search, with between 2,000 and 3,000 performers.
