THE WOODLANDS – With the high school football season over, baton twirlers are taking their act indoors for the start of the competitive twirling season.
The Mickey Majorettes, a local baton twirling group comprised of 18 girls based in The Woodlands, and the College Park High School Band Booster Club hosted the third annual Twirl in the Woods event Saturday and Sunday at College Park High School.
Sanctioned by the National Baton Twirling Association, the event was the organization’s inaugural competition in Texas this year.
More than 100 twirlers from across the state – including girls from Dallas, San Antonio and Corpus Christi – participated. Several traveled from as far away as Illinois to compete, but Patti Mickey, director of the event, said about one-eighth of the participants were from the greater Houston area.
The girls competed in solo, two baton and three baton events in five different age groups. Competition was then broken down into categories based on degree of difficulty.
In the main event, single-baton solo, two local girls stood out. Isabel Obias, of The Woodlands, won the 10-12-year-old beginner division. Meanwhile, Allison Pellerito, also from The Woodlands, captured the10-12-year-old intermediate division.
In the category of Miss Majorette, which combines scores from three different events and an interview, Pellerito won the title in her division, while Megan Norto, of Spring, earned the overall in the 13-15-year-old beginner division.
Hannah Dziuk, of The Woodlands, won for the college division. The 18-year-old Dziuk has been baton twirling for almost 10 years and said she has learned a lot from working with Mickey’s program.
“When I was a little girl, I watched Mrs. Mickey’s girls graduate and go on to college, and I knew I wanted to do that,” Dziuk said.
Now a freshman at Texas State University, majoring in speech and language disorders, she is “dedicated” to her twirling, juggling her school work while competing at the college level. She hopes to continue to be involved in the sport after college, “hopefully” receiving her judging license so to one day begin teaching.
Mickey said girls at the college level practice two or three hours a day, six days a week all year long.
“The girls learn how to work hard, but it’s also an all-around program that teaches girls to be young ladies,” Mickey said of baton twirling.
Linda Pellerito, mother of 11-year-old Allison Pellerito, said her daughter has been twirling since the first grade. Linda Pellerito said there is a difference between twirling competitively and for fun, and her daughter practices two hours a day.
“They have to be compassionate about it if they want to be competitive,” she said.
Pellerito said Allison, another member of Mickey’s program and a student at Collins Intermediate School, is pleased to be at the intermediate level for her age group and hopes to continue with the sport.
“She saw some girls twirling when she was in kindergarten, and she knew she didn’t want to be on the drill team like her sister,” Pellerito said. “She said, ‘I’d like to do that.’”
The Twirl in the Woods competition is the only NBTA-sanctioned event in greater Houston. Mickey said this year’s competition grew by 20 percent from 2010, and is nearly as large as the annual state competition, which will be held in Dallas in July.
Various pictures from "Twirl in the Woods"
Ashley Sneed from San Antonio Texas concentrates on her second baton during her 2-Baton routine at the Twirl In The Woods contest. (photo by Edward Obias)
Caroline Carothers from San Antonio Texas waits for the judge before performing her Solo routine at the Twirl In The Woods contest. (Photo by Edward Obias)
Twirl in the Woods Results
SINGLE-BATON SOLO
0-6 novice – Jessica Powell
7-9 novice – Heather Skidmore
10-12 novice – Emily Holt
13-15 novice – Rachel White
16-and-up novice – Daniele Churchman
7-9 beginner – Madeline Wood
10-12 beginner – Isabel Obias (CISD: Mitchell Intermediate)
13-15 beginner – Katy Watson
16-and-up beginner – Rebecca Lavender
10-12 intermediate – Allison Pellerito (CISD: Collins Intermediate School)
13-15 intermediate – Kryztal Vazquez
16+ intermediate – Alyssa Snyder
10-12 advanced – Ashley Sneed
13-15 advanced – Caroline Caruthers
16-and-up advanced – Stephanie Lampman
ADDITIONAL LOCAL WINNERS
College Miss Majorette of The Woodlands: Hannah Dziuk, The Woodlands
10-12 Intermediate Miss Majorette of The Woodlands: Allison Pellerito, The Woodlands
13-15 Beginner Miss Majorette of The Woodlands: Megan Norton, Spring
For more information on Mickey’s Majorettes, go to mickeysmajorettes.com.
Matt Stephens can be reached at mstephens@hcnonline.com.
