“The hardest part…waking up at 5’o’clock in the morning to get to practice. The amount of dedication we have to have is extreme. But I don’t regret any second of it. I just don’t like waking up.”

Cailey Osentowski, a sophomore, became a co-captain of the C.M. Russell Wranglers this year. In this position, she helps choreograph and teach dances, as well as handles a fair amount of paperwork.

Even without her new position, Osentowski says that being in Wranglers takes a lot of hard work. Exercise is important on the team, and they are participating in several dance competitions this year. “Dinner is not a subject anymore. It’s breakfast, lunch, maybe a snack if I’m lucky.”

Osentowski says that the thing she appreciates most on the Wranglers is watching her teammates learn and grow, some of them from a point of not knowing how to dance when they joined the team. Since watching the dancers when she first moved to great falls, Osentowski has wanted to be a Wrangler.

“They are such a tight-knight group, as you can tell. And I just wanted to be part of a team.”