Before we wrap up 2017, we have one final Friday Night Light post for you. We know football season for high school is officially over (congrats to all those teams that made the playoffs), but College Bowl Season is just kicking off, so we think it still counts!
This week's Friday Night Lights Feature is with the Canyon High School Twirlers - Megan Dartez, Denise Aguirre, Savannah Schwab, Presley Wirebaugh, and Maddie Brown!
In order to become a Canyon High School Twirler, these ladies have to perform an individual solo and interview, and must re-audition every year. They each learn their own routine to the music of their choice. As Maddie tells us, “we perform it alone in front of a panel of judges”. This year, five great twirlers all made it!
The school
has many great traditions. Savannah most enjoys the Wurstbowl against New
Braunfels High School, while Denise says her favorite is “definitely the blackout
pep rally. It is once a year and dedicated to the graduating class”. The Canyon
Twirlers are also a big part of their high school band program, and get to be a part
of all the inside jokes. Savannah said that “6:45 on the dot!” always makes her
laugh, while Denise loves her band sibling. “We exchange gifts with them. It’s
a tradition”.
These
twirlers have had many great moments on the field. Maddie enjoyed her first time
twirling in front of the crowd, and Denise agrees! Her favorite moment is “when
the crowd cheers, and all eyes are on you!” They have also had some pretty
funny moments. One year they had costumes that looked almost the same front and
back, and one of the girls wore hers backwards for an entire quarter. Oopps!
Now that we have learned a little more about being a part of the Canyon High School community, let's learn a little more about each of these twirlers...
Megan has been twirling for 10
years with coach Abby Rogers. Her favorite competition trick is elbow rolls,
and her favorite field trick is a high toss. After high school, Megan hopes to
become a registered nurse.
Denise Renee Aguirre – Senior
Denise has been twirling for three
years with coaches Michelle Pangrac, Mary Ann Srulowitz, and Abby Rogers, and competes at the novice level. The title she is the most proud of was when
she won the 2017 Senior Miss Basic Skills pageant. Her favorite competition
trick is a high toss illusion, and her favorite field trick is a leap, leap,
illusion. In baton twirling she has been inspired the most by her coach, Mary
Ann Srulowitz. “Everything she experienced I can relate to”. After high school
she plans to attend college.
Savannah Schwab – Junior
Savannah has been twirling for 7
years with coach Abby Rogers, and competes in the intermediate level. The
competition title she is the most proud of was when she won Miss ATF 2013. Her favorite competition trick is a toss
illusion, and her favorite field trick is a horizontal exchange. In baton
twirling, she has been inspired the most by Razorback Feature Twirler, Savannah
Miller. After high school, Savannah hopes to go to Texas A&M to get a
Bachelors in Allied Health, then o to medical school, and become a pediatrician.
Presley Wirebaugh – Lieutenant Captain,
Sophomore
Presley has been twirling for 6
years with coach Abby Rogers. Her
favorite competition trick is a toss floor roll, and her favorite field trick
is a candlestick. In baton twirling she has been inspired the most by her mom. After
high school, Presley hopes to attend Texas A&M University to be a
Biomedical Engineer.
Maddie Brown – Freshman
Maddie has been twirling for 6
years, first with coach Mary Jo Miller, and currently Abby Rogers. Her favorite
competition trick is anything with 2 batons, and her favorite field trick is
finger twirls. In baton twirling, she was most inspired by the “high school
twirlers who introduced me to twirling when I was 8”. After high school she
plans to attend college and do something in the medical field.
Fun Facts!
- Favorite Color: Maroon (Presley), Pink (Megan), Purple (Savannah & Maddie), Pink (Denise)
- Favorite Movie: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” & “La La Land” (Presley), “Twilight” (Megan), “Dirty Dancing” (Savannah), “Mulan” (Maddie)
- Favorite TV Show: “Friends” (Presley), “Pretty Little Liars” (Megan), “The Vampire Diaries” & “Gilmore Girls” (Savannah)
- Favorite Music: Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, & Ed Sheeran (Presley), Halsey (Megan), Country (Savannah), Rock Music (Denise)
- Favorite Food: Grapefruit (Presley), Chik-Fil-A (Megan), Mexican (Savannah)
- Favorite Animals: Dolphin, Turtle, Giraffe, and Elephant (Maddie)
When they are not twirling, they
love to…
- Maddie: “Cook and bake”
- Presley: “Show lambs and poultry, do FFA and 4-H, and also cook!”
- Megan: “Be at practice for color guard” (where she is also the captain!)
- Savannah: “Volunteer in the community with my church youth group, the food bank, and at the hospital”
- Denise: “Spend time with family, especially my nephews. We have a weekly dinner where we all get together”
Something people might not know
about them is…
- Savannah: “I love to travel and I’ve been to 11 different countries in the world and 28 US states”
- Denise: “I haven’t always been into twirling and all the glam. Prior to twirling, I participated in karate and boxing”
- Presley” “I cut the top of my pinky off at the beginning of this summer”
- Maddie: “I hate being late”
- Megan: “I like video games”
Favorite Quote…
- Denise: “Keep your focus”
- Presley: “Happy girls are the prettiest” -Audrey Hepburn
- Maddie: “To laugh at yourself is to love yourself” -Mickey Mouse
- Megan: “You only live once”
- Savannah: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Most memorable tip they have received
from their coach…
- Presley: “Always keep smiling!”
- Savannah: “Look up!” & “Keep your head up!”
- Megan: “Practice makes permanent”
- Denise: “You get out of it what you put in to it”
Favorite Individual Twirling
Moment…
- Presley: “Doing my tryout routine this last year and making Lieutenant Captain!”
- Megan: “When my costume was related to the musical, Chicago”
- Denise: “When I realized I had three baton down. Best feeling ever!”
- Maddie: “When you are frustrated with a trick, take a break, and then come back and nail it!”
Baton
Twirling has been very valuable to all of these twirlers. They each attribute
it with teaching them different life skills. Savannah says that the hand-eye
coordination has been the most important, while Maddie appreciates the time management,
and Denise values how it has allowed her to become more comfortable in front of
big groups of people.
They have
also learned many lessons and have some great advice to pass along to future
high school twirlers. As the freshman of the team, Maddie says to “be on time,
work hard, and SMILE!” Savannah says, that to improve as a team, make sure to
practice as a team as much as possible”. Finally, Denise, the senior, passes
along this sage advice… “Enoyt it! There is nothing that quite compares to high
school twirling, or high school for that matter. You get what you put in, so
spending those hours and hours practicing will pay off!” So true!
When asked
what they will miss the most when they graduate, the twirlers say tey will miss
getting ready and doing things as a team. They will also miss the “at-home
feeling, the comfortable feeling that comes when everyone is so close”.
Thank you so much ladies for taking the time to be a part of this interview. We know you had a great Fall 2017 season, and we wish you all the best of luck in what comes next!
We hope you have enjoyed this blog post. We are always looking for great new stories about Texas twirlers. Do you have an idea or some information we could use to help highlight our sport? Contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com and we would love to hear more about it.
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