Rhythm Elite, the high school competitive dance team from Dance Dimensions studio in Mineola, has been named a national champion for the eighth time.

They competed at the two-day National Dance Alliance championships Jan. 29-30 at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine, where even a fire alarm as they were ready to go onstage couldn’t derail them.

The team includes students from Mineola, Quitman, Lindale and Van.

They performed two routines, “Rock,” which is a pom routine, and “Hollywood,” which is a variety routine that includes jazz, pom, kick and hip hop.

Their scores in the preliminary round Saturday were not as good as hoped, according to director Koni Riley, and the judges critique revealed their hip hop section needed work.

So changes were implemented and practiced several times.

Their finals performance was originally scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Sunday but was pushed back until 8:40. The fire alarm went off just as the team was set to take the stage, forcing another 45-minute wait until the building could be cleared for reentry.

The final seven teams of the day were given additional time to warm up.

The team finally got the results around 10:15 and learned that the alterations to the routine had paid off with better scores and a championship.

“They did great on their performance, it was the best they could have done, and it showed on the score sheets,” Riley said. “At first it was stressful for some of the girls, but our motto for the day was ‘Changes make Champions’.”