ESPN RISE

Five members of the Lake Highlands girls' soccer team witnessed history, and now they are trying to make history.

Lake Highlands (Dallas, Texas) entered Friday's district clash with Creekview undefeated, ranked in the top 10 of the ESPNRISE.com FAB 50 and eyeing a first-ever state title.

However, that hardly compares with what Wildcat seniors Avery Atkins and Kate Pumphrey and juniors Grace Devaney, Gina Gossett and Nena Rubin experienced last month as members of the Lake Highlands Wranglers country-and-western dance team. The Wranglers performed in front of 11,000 spectators at the Black Tie and Boots inauguration ball, and then, on three hours of sleep, braved the cold weather and massive crowds to witness President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

"It was overwhelming," Gossett said. "I can't believe I was there, witnessing history being made. ... I took a lot of pictures."

"It was so packed, I was on tiptoes the whole time," Atkins added.

The Lake Highlands Wranglers had inauguration tickets that allowed the group to be within a couple hundred yards of the ceremony, a close location considering the magnitude of the event. Atkins said that she and a friend moved back from the crowds to get a better view.

Although seeing the inauguration firsthand was an event Gossett said she'll remember the rest of her life, it was the performance that was the main event for this group of 46 high school dancers, along with their sponsors and chaperones. The Wranglers are well-known in Texas, often performing in parades and at the Texas Governor's Ball. Spots on the dance team, which are limited to juniors and seniors at Lake Highlands, are highly competitive, complete with tryouts and a school-year-long class specifically for the team. In the past, Wranglers have appeared in a country-music video and have performed at previous inauguration balls.

However, this year's inauguration ball came as a surprise to the students. Early in the school year, plans were finalized for the trip, and team sponsors Cheyney Larkin and Beverly York opted to share the news with flair. The father of a dance team member -- dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a red, white and blue hat -- interrupted class one day in September to tell the students they were heading to Washington.

"When we heard, we started screaming," Gossett said.

The Wranglers were scheduled to perform three dances at the Black Tie and Boots Ball at Gaylord National Resort, including their staple performance titled "Only in America." The team, which is comprised of 23 couples, had to learn two new dances for the event. Practice for the inauguration ball started around the same time that soccer season kicked off at Lake Highlands.

Atkins (who is committed to Colgate), Devaney, Gossett, Pumphrey and Rubin helped the Wildcats to an undefeated showing at the prestigious Nolan Showcase, which earned the squad a FAB 50 top-25 ranking. The team rolled off four more wins and rose to No. 7 before the five left for D.C.

"They were gone for six days," Lake Highlands girls' soccer coach Misty Benson said. "On one hand, they were missing soccer, but on the other hand, they were missing it for a once-in-a-lifetime event."

After a day of sightseeing, it was performance time for the Wranglers.

The first order of business at the Black Tie and Boots event on Monday evening, the night before the inauguration, was playing the role of greeters, a two-and-a-half-hour process.

"It was fun to see everyone, and I was proud to be from Texas," Atkins said. "People were shaking our hands and taking pictures with us. We felt like we were famous, but we're just high schoolers."

Yet these high schoolers were rubbing elbows with the famous.

They watched performances by Tracy Byrd, Neil McCoy and Cross Canadian Ragweed. Denzel Washington attended the event, and a few of the Wranglers got to "pound fists" with him, Gossett said.

Although the Wranglers reached the ball at 6 p.m., they were not scheduled to perform until 11:30 p.m., and then again in another ballroom at 12:30 a.m.

About 30 minutes prior to performance time, the team was ushered into a changing room to get into its red, white and blue, Texas flag uniforms.

"I didn't even have time to be nervous," Atkins said. "It was more excitement. ... They cleared the dance floor for us, and people lined all four sides of the dance floor. People had never seen anything like us before, and this [performance] was the best we've ever done."

The dance team returned to its hotel around 2 a.m. and got three hours sleep before embarking on a Metro journey to the nation's Capitol to witness the inauguration.

The following day, the Wranglers took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an event that touched Atkins.

"It was so solemn, and neat to watch the guards," she said. "I feel way more patriotic now. Now, before games, when I hear the national anthem, it gives me chills."

The next day, Thursday, the Wranglers returned to Texas, and the five soccer players needed to make a quick mental switch back to sports since Lake Highlands faced fellow undefeated Hebron in a FAB 50 showdown Friday night. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Atkins scoring the goal for Lake Highlands.

Since then, Lake Highlands has won five straight matches to improve the team's mark to 12-0-3.

When asked what was more exciting -- the soccer season or the inauguration experience -- Gossett had a hard time deciding.

"Soccer is amazing," she said, then paused before continuing. "I think it's equal. D.C. was pretty amazing, too."

Sheldon Shealer covers high school soccer for ESPNRISE.com.