Writing HERstory: Gothe’s gift of dance

You see them shaking their pom poms on Worsham Field at Lane Stadium. You see them hyping up the crowds inside Cassell Coliseum. From Hokie Walk to Enter Sandman, the Virginia Tech HighTechs are truly a Hokie staple and a team that works incredibly hard to serve other student-athletes and fans alike. 

Rising junior Marceda Gothe found her reason for dancing at her first practice with the HighTechs in 2022. After suffering from a minor stroke just a few weeks prior, Gothe was brought back to herself the moment her body began moving across the room. When the world told her to quit, her instincts told her to keep going.  

Before beginning dance, Gothe enjoyed competing in gymnastics and even participated in baseball, after following in her older brother’s footsteps.  

The Chester, Virginia native began dance lessons in the first grade, after attending “bring a friend to dance day” with her lifelong best friend. Gothe quickly found a passion for dance that prompted her to ask for lessons as a birthday gift.  

Gothe hasn’t taken off her dance shoes since the first class. She continued with classes until she eventually graduated to the competitive dance level, where she would then compete with a local Richmond dance studio.  

“My dance studio was so regimented; I would leave school and be at dance from 5-9:30 p.m. every day. The studio wouldn’t let you be involved in any school dance club because of the studio schedule.” 

Long hours and hard work never scared Gothe. On top of the strenuous hours spent at the dance studio, Gothe also finished ninth out of 650 students in her graduating class. She was proactive in the student body and helped start the “Best Buddies” program at her high school, where students in special education were able to immerse themselves in different activities with other members of the student body. 

When choosing a college to attend, the opportunity to continue to dance competitively was a top priority for her.  

“Originally, I wasn’t planning on going to Virginia Tech, but I had friends on the HighTechs who had great experiences on the team and that is what convinced me to go here. Growing up as a dancer, you’re perceived as an artist and not an athlete but at Virginia Tech, dance is under Athletics, and I really liked that aspect.”  

The tryout process for the HighTechs is no easy feat. Gothe had to tryout virtually because she had a mandatory competition with her Richmond studio during in-person tryouts. She was required to send in videos of her performing skills one after the other without pausing the video in order to prove that she could do the skills without faults.  

“It exhausts you incredibly because an in-person tryout is not exactly like that, and you have more breaks. For virtual tryouts, you blindly submit all these videos and don’t hear if you made the team until the last day of in-person tryouts.” 

Tryouts for the HighTechs happen each spring and practices in person quickly follow in the summer months. Members of the team are expected to come to Blacksburg during the break for a few weekends to prepare for the fall season. 

Gothe continues to be a leader on the HighTechs and has successfully made the team each year. One of her main goals during her time at Virginia Tech is to change the way the Spirit program is perceived.  

 “Everybody thinks we just stand on the sidelines and shake our poms and I understand that because that’s all they see, but I wish they knew what Nationals season is like”. 

 Each year, the HighTechs travel to Orlando, Florida to compete at the UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship. Nationals take place over winter break and the team is required to attend rigorous training following finals until December 22nd. 

“After finals, we begin two four-hour practices every day without a rest day. We wake up and drill from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., get a two-hour break, and come back and practice from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.” 

Following the winter holiday, the HighTechs are required to return to campus early in order to continue preparation for the Nationals competition, working tirelessly to ensure each routine is flawless.  

Nationals is a major competition, in which Division I schools across the country come to compete against each other. The dance programs are judged on their skills in Pom routine, Hip Hop and Jazz. Virginia Tech is in Division IA and competes against schools such as The University of Minnesota, Ohio State, University of Tennessee, amongst others.  

The competition is three days long, and teams must perform multiple dance routines, showcasing the skills and talents they have been drilling throughout the year. The HighTechs consistently place amongst some of the largest teams in the nation, proving that they belong on the national stage.  

“It takes a lot of time and effort and unfortunately, people don’t see that”. 

Off the stage, Gothe excels in school, majoring in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise (HNFE) with a minor in adaptive brain and behavior science. She plans to go into physical therapy and currently works as a Physical Therapy Technician with Athletico Physical Therapy in Midlothian, Virginia.  

“My spark in physical therapy stems from my TIA and why movement is medicine. I love lifting, dance and movement, and physical therapy is rehabbing people through movement. It brings me joy to see people feel like themselves again through movements they wouldn’t think to do”.  

Gothe and the HighTechs will be back in action this fall and are currently preparing for an exciting season with Virginia Tech football. The 30-person roster is working incredibly hard right now to serve Hokie Nation. So, the next time you see them shaking their poms at Lane, remember the time and effort it took behind-the-scenes to make those routines look flawless.  

Writing HERstory Campaign
Tech Athletics launched a multi-platform brand campaign celebrating the incredible achievements of its female student-athletes, both past and present, while inspiring the next generation of women who aspire to achieve their dreams through athletics. In partnership with Truist, Tech will share stories of its past and current female student-athletes over the course of the calendar year. Ranging from podcast interviews to feature stories and more, the incredible moments and achievements by women over the years in Virginia Tech Athletics will be celebrated. To make an impact on female sports at Tech or to sign up for the monthly Writing HERstory newsletter.