Alison Karsten was surprised when she heard the news.

Karsten and her fellow Sycamore Spartanettes already knew they had qualified for the first-ever IHSA state finals for competitive dance in Bloomington today by finishing fifth in Saturday’s Minonk Sectional.

But the more noteworthy announcement came Tuesday when the IHSA announced the performance order for today’s preliminary round. Coach Alyssa Pawola told the team via email that Sycamore’s performance time of 3:15 p.m. would allow the Spartanettes to compete at state and travel back to DeKalb for their performance during the Sycamore-DeKalb boys/girls basketball doubleheader.