They have two minutes to make an impression — back arched, toes pointed, shoulders back, hips turned, knees together and weight down. He looks into her eyes, and she into his. The music begins. She follows his lead, but his mind is already eight counts ahead.

Suddenly, everything clicks — the connection, the music and the intensity. This is it. They made it to finals. The pair whirls across the stage, lifting, lunging and dipping, all while beaming from cheek to cheek. They nailed it.

It was at this time last November that Megan Merrill, sophomore in political science, and Nick Babberl, senior in performing arts, were busy preparing for their first ever USA Dance National Collegiate Championships in ballroom dance.

The duo paired together for the first time on “the big stage” to compete in American Swing – bronze level, for which they ousted hundreds of other pairs to place in the final six contenders.

There is no choreography in ballroom, no routine to follow. All the steps are thought of on the spot after getting a feel for the music, the space and the other dancers.

“There was a lot of nervousness [at Nationals],” Babberl said. “There was a lot of second-guessing myself because it was the first time.”

But the connection the two shared held strong, and they have practiced ballroom dancing together ever since.

Both with years of dance experience behind them, Merill and Babberl met through the Orchesis II dance group two years ago when they were both put together in a dance with lifts.

“I was a base [cheerleader] in high school — I didn’t get lifted,” Merill said. “There was a lot of self-consciousness about ‘he’s, like, this big, and I’m not.’ But then we had no problem with it. I trust him more than I trust anyone with lifts. He’s always got my back.”

At competitions, it’s clear what partners have more experience dancing.

“When we go to competitions, you can sit there and see which couples have been dancing together for a while, which ones are new and which ones just met yesterday,” Babberl said. “It really helps to know each other outside of practice, too.”

With no knowledge of the music beforehand, all routines for competition must be impromptu. The two will be registering for competition individually this year away from the team, so they can dance solely with each other and not with new assigned partners.

“A lot of partners, especially if they weren’t good friends as well, don’t really want to get into it,” Merill said. “If you don’t have a connection with your partner, if you don’t look them in the eye, you’re not going to get anything back from the other side.

Merrill said she — like most newcomers — used to hate swing even though she was constantly placed in swing competitions.

“Then I started dancing with [Nick], and he loves swing. I started liking it more, and now it’s my favorite,” Merrill said. “If you’re good at it, you might as well join them.”

Armed with expensive costumes, four or five pairs of shoes each, jewelry and each other’s support, Babberl and Merill head off to Ohio in two weeks for a second shot at Nationals.

What they face in Ohio

Having traveled extensively throughout the Midwest for “comp” — dance slang for “competition,” Megan Merill, sophomore in political science and Nick Babberl, senior in performing arts, will travel to Ohio to compete in ballroom dance at the bronze level. This year, for the first time, the two will be dancing all of their events together.

According to USA Dance, contestants are limited to eight syllabus dances, including waltz, tango, cha cha, rumba, swing, salsa, mambo and foxtrot.