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Last Saturday Creighton lost to St. John’s 82-66 in the Big East tourney title game but still earned an at-large bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Bluejays have now had 10 winnings seasons in a row and are back in the NCAA tourney for the 5th year in a row. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Creighton dancer Genevieve Pietruszynski about the “Relay for Life” and making the NCAA tourney.

You are from Ankeny, IA: what made you choose Creighton? My next-door neighbors’ oldest/youngest daughters go to Creighton: I grew up with them and looked up to them a lot! We definitely felt like family and our families are still very close. Even though the youngest (Kelsey) is 9 years older than me, she is still a very good friend. In 2016 I visited her Relay for Life event as her sorority’s cancer survivor! When it came time to pick colleges I already felt at home and it reminded me of my neighbors. Creighton was also a good fit for me as I wanted to go the pre-medicine route. I liked that the campus was not too big and the class sizes were small. I also was excited they had a dance team and other opportunities to dance!

You are majoring in psychology on the pre-med track with minors in biology and dance: how did you choose those subjects? During my first semester I took a Psychology 201 course. I was absolutely fascinated and wanted to learn as much as I could. The psychology major had all the courses in the areas I wanted more information about. I also believe it will help me become a compassionate and empathetic future healthcare worker. Due to the fact that I am on the pre-medicine track, I also need to take the prerequisite courses for medical school. These courses have led me to want to take some of the higher-level biology classes. Looking at the classes I wanted to take out of pure enjoyment for learning, I saw they added up to a biology minor! This complimented my psychology major for pre-med very well so I decided to make it official. My dance minor stems from my love for dance and performing. Taking dance classes during my day is a stress reducer and allows me to have an active break in-between my difficult classes. I also enjoy performing in the spring dance shows once the Dance Team season slows down.

You are in the honors program: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? Balancing course work with the Dance Team can be a challenge. The university does not offer athletic academic support for the Dance Team so we are responsible for maintaining our grades. It can be difficult: I have had to go straight from a physics test in full game day gear to a game! Additionally, I have had late game nights followed by an early-morning exam. However, for me, being on a college Dance Team has been my dream so I work hard to make it work. There are sacrifices that we have to make in order to ensure we stay on top of our grades. The entire team is academically-driven and we do a great job encouraging each other to stay on top of our schoolwork. Personally, I use a paper calendar for my homework assignments and a Google calendar to stay on top of practices and performances at games.

You are part of the executive team for “Relay for Life”: what does that involve? Relay for Life is an on campus organization that raises money for the American Cancer Society. Our goal as a club is to support the American Cancer Society in their fight against cancer. I am a cancer survivor myself so this club means a lot to me. My role on the team is the “Greek Life Representative.” My job is to communicate with the sororities/fraternities to encourage their involvement at the event. I present to each chapter and monitor registration for each group. I also assist the other executive members with the organization and planning of the Relay for Life event.

You are a junior: do you have a post-graduation plan yet? Right now I am working on my medical school application. I have been shadowing and working at a local hospital to get clinical hours. I have also been studying for the MCAT, so my plan is to apply to medical schools and see where my application leads me!

Last Saturday in the Big East tourney title game the Bluejays lost to St. John’s but still received an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney: how excited were you to hear your school’s name announced on Selection Sunday? I was lucky enough to travel to both the men’s and women’s Big East Tournaments and see both of our teams make the championship game, which was so much fun! Going to the Selection Sunday event the day after we returned felt very fitting for March. The Dance Team was very excited for another opportunity to cheer on the Bluejays. Getting to travel with the team is such a special opportunity and I have such incredible memories with the Dance Team. It was also special that we were able to dance at so many games during the Big East tournaments because for a lot of our seniors it was our last time dancing. The NCAA tournament is a huge time commitment and not everyone’s schedule is able to support missing so much school. I was so happy that the seniors were able to dance the whole week and live up their last few performances. Additionally, for our senior who is traveling for March Madness, I was grateful to hear our school’s name so that I could dance with her again! For many of us, the Dance Team is the last chance we get to dance so traveling means extending that time. I am very grateful we get to keep dancing!

Your team made the Sweet 16 in 2024 and the Elite 8 in 2023: did you get to attend either/both of those 2 great postseason runs? I was able to travel to the NCAA tournament in 2024, which was so much fun! We went to Pittsburgh for the first 2 rounds and then Detroit for the Sweet 16. I have so many memories and had a blast getting to perform at these events.

How does your school decide who gets to go to the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your group doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? Currently, our Dance Team is student-led so we have elected officers who deal with team decisions. The captains are the ones who choose the travel lists based on seniority, officer position, and (as a last resort) GPA. It is a surreal experience to realize you are on national TV. Last year I had friends/family send me videos from home: it is so crazy to realize that so many people are watching! Our team is well-prepared: we practice three times a week, have several great routines, and love what we do. For us, it is about supporting the Bluejays and representing our school well. We all love to dance and we are so excited to get to perform for such a large audience.

Does your squad have anything extra-special planned for this week? The Big East Tournaments were over our spring break but this tournament will cause us to miss a lot of school, so we will be studying and making sure our work is completed before returning to school. We like to do at least one team meal a day: it is nice to come together and make memories because we are all very excited for the game!

Any predictions for your game on Thursday vs. Louisville in Lexington? I am very nervous: it will definitely be a tough matchup but I think the team will be ready to give it their all!