Friday Night Lights Feature - Columbia High School

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

We have returned and those Friday Night Lights are back to brighten up our weeks! We could not be happier to see twirlers all over Texas back on the field, and we can’t wait to see many more amazing moments as football season continues. As those Friday Night Lights turn on each week, we hope to see everyone continue to enjoy the sights and sounds of football teams, marching bands, and our favorite, lots of talented Texas baton twirlers! 

Each season this blog likes to get to know many of our awesome Texas twirlers a little better by learning about their experiences. We will be meeting many High School twirlers throughout the season with the Friday Night Lights Features and discovering more about our Texas Collegians with the Collegiate Twirler Spotlights. We will also be having many of our High School and Collegiate twirlers take over our Social Media Story for their Game Days! Make sure to follow us on Instagram @twirlingiscatchingtx or at facebook.com/twirlingiscatchingtx so you don't miss a thing!

This season’s first Friday Night Lights Feature is the Columbia High School Twirlers!

Columbia High School, located in West Columbia, Texas, is a small town about an hour south of Houston, but it is a town with a big tradition of baton twirlers! In addition to West Columbia being the first capital of the Republic of Texas, it is also the home of the CHS Roughnecks. Friday evening, we got to follow along for a Game Day at CHS through the Instastory Takeover. Today we get to learn more about being a Roughneck with the Columbia High School Twirlers: Feature Twirler - Natalee Stephenson, and Line Twirlers - Harper Thornbrugh, Bailey Bower, and Elyssa Wachtel.

In order to become a CHS Twirler, they had to participate in an audition that showed fundamentals, a learned group routine, and a solo routine. Once they have designated the Feature and Line Members, they get to start the process of preparing for the new season and doing their favorite school activities, which includes the many traditions they have together. 

Some of their best traditions are the Daddy/Daughter twirl game night, the Midnight Madness football scrimmage, and protecting the field as seniors from their rival school. Add these traditions to events like Homecoming, the start of football, October Pink out games, and competing at the Brazoria County Fair, being a Roughneck Twirler keeps them all busy!

Now that we have heard more about CHS, let’s learn more about the twirlers!

Senior & Feature Twirler Natalee Stephenson

Sophomore Harper Thornbrugh

Freshman Bailey Bower

Freshman Elyssa Wachtel

Fun Facts! 

• Natalee – “I am a competitive shooter on a shooting team.”
• Harper – “I am a dancer.”
• Bailey – “I swim the 500 meter.”
• Elyssa – “I run the 300 meter hurdles.”

Favorite Color…

• Natalee – Pink
• Harper – Purple 
• Bailey – Maroon 
• Elyssa – Teal

Favorite TV Show or Movie…

• Natalee – “Reba” 
• Harper – “High School Musical” 
• Bailey – “Outer Banks” 
• Elyssa – “Brooklyn 99”

Must Have Game Day Snacks… 

• Natalee – “Kit Kats and an unsweet tea.”
• Harper – “Goldfish and Dr. Pepper.”
• Bailey – “Coconut Dr. Pepper and sour punch straws.”
• Elyssa – “Bacon Cheez Its and Dr. Pepper.”

Favorite Quote or Life Motto…

• Natalee – “We ride at dawn!”
• Harper – “One more time is always a lie.”
• Bailey – “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
• Elyssa – “Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest part of you.”

Current or former baton twirler that they look up to the most…

• Natalee – Former CHS Twirler, and current Texas Tech Twirler, Taryn Fojtik
• Harper – Former CHS Twirler & Texas State Feature Twirler, Megan Lazrine Pate
• Bailey – 2024 PreTeen Miss Majorette of America, Collyn Lambeck
• Elyssa – Elyssa’s Mom, Dana Matula Wachtel

Future Plans after High School…

• Natalee – “Going to A&M for accounting.”
• Harper – “Becoming a teacher.”
• Bailey – “Going to UT for Business Law.”
• Elyssa – “Going to SHSU for Forensic Science.”

Something people may not know about them…

• Natalee – “I get very nervous before a performance or pageant.”
• Harper – “I have major anxiety!”
• Bailey – “I will be having a brain surgery In November.”
• Elyssa – “I am extremely hard on myself.”

Their favorite twirling memories…

• Natalee – “Twirling in the rain at a game last year.”
• Harper – “Thursday band and twirl practice in a rain shower.”
• Bailey – “Getting hit on the head by Elyssa with a loose baton.”
• Elyssa – “When (former CHS Twirler) Taryn and Natalee helped me with my 2 baton.”

Their favorite Game Day memories… 

• Natalee – “The bus rides.”
• Harper – “Twirling with friends.”
• Bailey – “The school dress up days.”
• Elyssa – “Twirling on the sidelines.”

 

We want to say thank the Columbia Twirlers for sharing their game day with us. Good luck to them on the rest of their season and we hope that they make lots of fun new memories together this year. Go Roughnecks! Ride for the C!

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.