Laura Lucas And Amy Poppinga

The season finale of Dancing with the Stars was Tuesday night. The event happened after the Battle of the Bands and was sponsored by the University Program Council and Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre fraternity.

Contestants included SDSU stars: Cori Bortnem, Miss SDSU; Nathan Hofer, member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Greek Life; and Katie Jo Maguire, member of Residential Life and Arts and Science Senator. Rachel Foth, a senior speech communications and visual arts major, was one of the choreographers.

After three weeks of competition only three couples remained, Cori Bortnem, a senior liberal studies major, and Nolan Hayes, a senior speech communications major, Nate Hofer, a junior psychology major, and Rachel Foth, and Katie Jo McGuire, a junior music teacher education major, and John Zierke, a junior interior design major.

During the first week instead of kicking off the couple with the least amount of votes, Sam Nelson and Abby Olson decided to quit due to an inquiry to Olson’s leg. Jodi Wuttke and Curtis Johnson were the next team voted off after receiving the least amount of votes during the second week.

Special circumstances arose again in the third week. Due to the technical difficulty of a missing CD, one couple was unable to dance during the third week, and so all three remaining couples were allowed to stay and compete in the finale.

McGuire said, “I’m really glad for people to see this and have the opportunity to see dance.”

After the votes were tallied, Bortnem and Hayes were announced the winners. Their prize was $200.

Before she went on stage, Bortnem said, “I’m nervous. We have some big tricks.”

The theme for the night was free style. Bortnem and Hayes did swing, Foth and Hofer did a mix and McGuire and Zierke did tango.

Josh Yocom, SDSU alum, met with the couples, measured them, gathered all the materials and made all the costumes from scratch.

Brady Mallory, a junior broadcast journalism major and organizer of the event, said, “All five couples have worked so hard. They have been working since the middle of the summer.”

#1.883151:2906318169.jpg:dancing stars color.br.jpg:Nolan Hayes leaps over partner Cori Bortnem during their winning swing dance.:Blair Rau