Friday Night Lights Feature - Gilmer High School

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

Wow! Can you believe we have already completed the last weekend of regular season high school football? The past couple months went by so fast, and we are sad to say this is the final Friday Night Lights Feature of the season! Don’t worry, we will still have more takeovers through playoffs, but for our last interview of the season we get to meet a great group of twirlers!

Our final Friday Night Lights Feature of the season is the Gilmer High School Twirlers!

Gilmer High School, located in Gilmer, Texas, is the home of the Buckeyes, and a wonderful tradition of twirling! This year Gilmer High School is able to feature a line of 10 twirlers including Caitlin Drennan & Mallory Tate (Co-Head Twirlers), Heidi Espino, Maritza Ocampos, Magdalyn Boaz, Hailee Green, Elizabeth Melara, Natalie Fennell, Amy Sanchez, and Jessica Wright.

With a line of 10 twirlers, we wanted to know what the audition process was, and their coach, Allison Logan, told us that, “Each girl prepares a solo for tryouts, and we also learn a group routine the week of tryouts.”

Being a GHS student is a lot of fun! “We have an awesome new school with great facilities!” In addition to playing at football games and pep rallies, they also have a great military style marching band that just placed 4th at the 5A/6A UIL State Military Marching Band Championship! Attending the State Contest is the event that they all say will be their favorite memory from the season! So exciting!

Now that we have learned a little more about GHS, let’s learn more about the twirlers!

Caitlin Drennan, Senior

Co-Head Twirler

Caitlin has been twirling for 6 years. She was a member of the BETA Competition Team for 2 years with Blair Maxwell and is a private student of Candice Curbow. Her favorite tricks are 3 turns or 2 baton juggles with a blind catch. After High School, Caitlin hopes to become a Music Education Major at Stephen F. Austin and audition to be a Twirl-O-Jack.

• Favorite Quote… “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow” - Helen Keller
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Hang out with my friends, sing country music, and take pictures.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I don’t have wisdom teeth.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Make the most of the time you have, make those memories, because it goes by fast."

Mallory Tate, Senior

Co-Head Twirler

Mallory has been twirling for more than six years and works with coaches Kait Abron, Ms. Michele, and Allison Logan. After high school she hopes to attend college and major in psychology with the focus of being a forensic psychologist.

• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Playing sports and attending church activities.”

Heidi Espino, Senior 

Heidi has been twirling for over 4 years and works with Coach Allison Logan.

Natalie Fennell, Junior

Natalie has been twirling for 4 years and works with coaches Michele Faulkner, Kait Abron, and Allison Logan. Her favorite trick is a double arm flash toss. After high school she hopes to go to the University of Texas at Austin and major in biology to become a pediatrician.

• Favorite Quote… “Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired” General George S. Patton Jr
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Spend time with friends and family.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I like to learn about history.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Never stop improving and don’t drop the stick!”

Jessica Wright, Junior 

Jessica has been twirling for 6 years and works with coach Allison Logan. Her favorite trick is a toss layout. After high school, she hopes to become either an ultrasound tech or a radiologist.

• Favorite Quote… “Live life as if you were to die tomorrow and learn as if you were to live forever.”
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Go to events at my church and hang out with friends.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I did cheer before majorette.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Don't be afraid to try new tricks because they seem scary, they can end up being your favorite trick!”

Magdalyn Boaz, Sophomore

Magdalyn has been twirling for 4 years and is coached by Allison Logan. Her favorite trick is a two turn. After High School she hopes to become an RN and open a shelter/kitchen for the needy.”

• Favorite Quote… “Spread love like confetti!”
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Read.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I know how to crochet.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Practice and have fun!”

Elizabeth Melara, Sophomore

Elizabeth has been twirling for five years. She has been coached by Michele’s All-Star Twirl, Briyanna Blalock, Genell Blalock, Michele Faulkner, and Allison Taylor Logan. Her favorite trick is a shoulder arm back catch. After high school, she hopes to become a surgeon and specialize in hip and shoulders.”

• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Read or play softball.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I have 2 older siblings in Honduras.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Don’t give up when it gets hard.”

Maritza Ocampos, Freshman

Maritza has been twirling for two and a half years, and is coached by Mr. Gray, Mrs. Thompson, and Mr. Garmon. Her favorite trick is a toss illusion. After high school she hopes to go to college and start her health science pathway.

• Favorite Quote… "Accept both compliments and criticism. It takes both sun and rain for a flower to grow.” -Marek Kośniowski
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Listen to music or watch movies.”
• Something people might not know about her… “I'm a completely different person once you have known me for years.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Even if you are lacking in some skills, never give up! You just need to practice because practice makes perfection.”

Hailee Green, Freshman

Hailee has been twirling for four years. Her favorite trick is juggles. After high school, she hopes to be a teacher and a missionary on the side of that.”

• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Play my trumpet and hang out with my friends.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “Practice your routines continually after you learn them even if the routine is not being done frequently so that you know it well when the time comes.”

Amy Sanchez, Freshman

Amy has been twirling for five years and works with Coaches Chole, Allison Logan, and Ms. Michele. Her favorite tricks are illusion skills. After high school she hopes to be a feature twirler at a university.

• Favorite Quote… “When you work hard, you go far!” 
• When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Go shopping!”
• Something people might not know about her… “I don’t like candy.”
• Advice to future high school twirlers… “To have your solo prepared on time…don’t wait until the last minute.”

We want to thank the Gilmer Twirlers for sharing their game day with us, and we send them a huge congratulations on their great showing at UIL Military State! We hope they have an amazing rest of their school year, and we will see them on the field again next Fall! 

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.