In 2002, a former dance coach at Eastview High School snuck Jenny Raiche’s name onto the list of applicants – and the rest is Breaking Barrier history.

Nineteen years later, Raiche’s Eastview dance team has won 19 state titles – 13 in high kick and six in jazz. She has coached the team to 19 straight conference titles, 17 section jazz titles and 16 section kick titles. She earned Minnesota Coach of the Year in 2003, 2014 and 2020, and was inducted into the Minnesota Association of Dance Team (MADT) Coaches Hall of Fame in 2011.

Eastview isn’t the only school to benefit from Raiche’s love of dance, however. The same year she took the job at Eastview, Raiche co-founded the Miss Dance Team Minnesota event to give high school dancers the opportunity to represent their schools as individuals – and be showcased, recognized and rewarded at both the state and national levels. Since its inception, more than 2,000 dancers have had the opportunity to compete as an individual at the state level, and more than 200 have been trained by Raiche to compete at the national level.

Along with coaching, Raiche is also very involved in other aspects of dance. Raiche, who danced for four years at Totino-Grace High School and then was a dancer, student coach and choreographer for four years at Gustavus Adolphus, was the Vice President of Camps and Special Events for Just For Kix, and she’s a former member of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleader coaching staff.

She has also served in many capacities on the MADT Board of Directors, the Minnesota State High School League Activity Advisory Committee, the National Dance Coaches Association and many panels and action groups in the state to keep moving team dance in Minnesota forward and ensure that dancers in the state have as many opportunities as possible to compete in the sport that they love.