Walton looking forward to joining University of St. Mary dance team

By Andy Brown
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Updated: July 16, 2025

***Louisburg’s Annmarie Walton (center) signed to join the University of Saint Mary dance team this upcoming school year.***

In her three years on the Jazzy Cats, Annmarie Walton was able to express her love for dance, and at the same time, become a part of a small family.

Walton didn’t want that feeling to go away and explored the idea of doing the same in college. The 2025 Louisburg High School graduate found the perfect spot to continue that.

Earlier this year, Walton signed to join the University of Saint Mary dance team this upcoming season. The NAIA program in Leavenworth seemed to check all the boxes.

“I really enjoyed dancing in high school and my senior year is when I first started considering dancing in college,” Walton said. “I really liked the idea of dancing on a small team in college to give me a group/family away from home. Out of all possible colleges I could’ve went to, Saint Mary’s campus, team and coach made me feel at home.”

Dance has been a big part of Walton’s life and it started a young age. She began with Miami County Dance Movement for several years, then took a break her freshman season, before joining the Louisburg High School dance team.

“Like a lot of kids, I’ve enjoyed dancing since I can remember,” Walton said. “During my sophomore year I tried out for the Jazzy Cat dance team and I’ve been dancing ever since. Dance has definitely played a big role in more recent years of my life and wouldn’t trade that time for anything due to the relationships I was able to grow during my time dancing.”

Walton joins a Spire team that has experienced a lot of recent success. Saint Mary won the 2024-25 KCAC Conference Championships and earned a spot in the NAIA Dance National Championships.

Louisburg graduate Annmarie Walton signed to join the University of Saint Mary dance team. Seated next to Annmarie are her parents Tim and Lindsey Walton. Standing (from left) is Louisburg Jazzy Cats coach Eliza Maloney and St. Mary coach Kinleigh Brecheisen.

Along with it being a good fit with her Nursing major, she is excited to join the program, which is headed by coach Kinleigh Brecheisen.

“A really big thing that drew me to St. Mary was the smaller campus environment, the nursing program, its dance team, and it not being too far away from home,” Walton said. “Also, I felt really at home and comfortable while visiting the campus. The dance coach was very warm and welcoming from the first time she met me and my family, which all helped me make my decision pretty quick to attend St. Mary.”

As excited as Walton is to start a new dance chapter, she can’t help but look back on her high school team with fond memories.

“Being a part of the Jazzy Cats was one of the best experiences of high school,” Walton said. “Jazzy Cats really brought me out of my shell and taught me lots of valuable lessons, such as team building, time management and accountability. Jazzy Cats prepared me for a college level dance team by making sure I hold myself accountable and be the best version of myself that I can be.”

In just a couple months time, Walton will join the Spires dance team and she is excited to get her college career started.

“The expectations I have for myself is to work as hard as I can on my studies and the dance team,” Walton said. “I want to come out of college with my nursing degree and at the same time strive for excellence on a college dance team as I did on my high school dance team. I’m very excited to see how these next four years of my life will play out, both academically and on the dance team.”