Hello Texas Twirl Fans!
We know the twirling community loves pageants, and even more
so when the pageant competitors are baton twirlers! We have been lucky to
recently have been represented in the Texas Pageant world by 2016 Miss Texas,
Caroline Carothers, and in the 2017 Miss Texas pageant we had four baton
twirlers competing. This year, we get to do even one better with FIVE Texas
baton twirlers vying for the title of Miss Texas 2018!!! We would love to see
one of these women wear the crown!
To make sure our twirlers get the proper level of support
from the twirling community, leading up to the Miss Texas pageant (June 25th to
June 30th) we will be doing an interview with the baton twirlers that will be
competing. We want to come together and unite to celebrate and support these young
women as they represent our community and show Texas what twirlers can do!
Our first Miss Texas twirling representative is the 2018
Miss Prestonwood Polo Club, Kimberly Ferguson!
Kimberly is 24 years old and hails from Carthage, TX. You
may have seen Kimberly performing around east Texas as she was the head twirler
at her high school and a member of the well-known Stephen F Austin State
University Twirl-O-Jacks in college! Kimberly is coached by Halie Hart.
Kimberly graduated from SFA with a BA in Mass Communications and is currently a
Yearbook Sales Rep with Balfour North Texas and a Texas Rangers Six Shooter.
PEOPLE'S CHOICE VOTING IS OPEN! Help support our Texas
Twirlers in their mission to get baton twirling to the finals! Top 2 highest
"votes" get a guaranteed spot in the TOP TWELVE. Check out the
People's Choice voting site to donate. You can vote up until June 25th!!! Get
our twirlers on that stage!
In 2017, Kimberly competed in the Miss Texas pageant as Miss
Twin Rivers. She did a great job her first time through, and even pulled out a
no drop talent routine! This year, she is back and ready to improve on
everything she built last year. Now, let’s learn a little more about Kimberly,
baton twirling, and her return to the Miss Texas stage!
Miss Texas Platform: Kimberly’s Literacy Project
Life Motto: "There are far better things ahead than
anything we leave behind."-C.S. Lewis
What was your favorite story from the 2017 Miss Texas
Pageant?
“I was very intimidated to meet my roommate last year. She
is beautiful, had been Miss Texas Outstanding Teen, and placed top 5 every year
at Miss Texas. I thought being in close proximity with her meant I'd have to be
perfect at all times for like a week straight. I remember walking into our
hotel room that day and all of her drawers had fallen out of a rolling cart in
the bathroom, and she was sitting in the floor surrounded by toiletries,
looking stressed out. She looked how I felt! Then that night we broke something
in our hotel room and had to find a hostess to help us. Not only was she
totally a normal person, she had a great sense of humor! After that first day
together, I knew we would be friends.”
What part of Miss Texas Week are you most looking forward
to?
“Seeing my friends from all over the state and learning our
amazing production numbers! I always love the creative dances we get to do. I
also love getting to share my story with the judges in our private interview,
and seeing what everyone chooses to wear for each phase of the competition.”
Which part of Miss Texas Week are you most nervous to return
to?
“Even after all these years, I still get nervous to twirl!
This year there will be three levels to the stage, and my routine is
choreographed to really use the whole stage, so I'll have to work on the
spacing in rehearsal during the week. I think it also makes me the most nervous
because twirling is where I literally pour out my blood, sweat, and tears so I
want those 90 seconds to be perfect!”
What lesson did you learn last year that you are taking to
heart this time?
“Not to take myself too seriously! I put a lot of pressure
on myself last year to reach a certain placement, and not to let anyone down.
That pressure really effected my mindset and performance during the week. This
year, I'm going to just strive to do my best and enjoy every single second of
the experience. It's so hectic to juggle pageant prep and two jobs, but I'm
trying to relax and enjoy the entire journey. Some days it isn't possible for
me to train in every area of competition, and I've had to learn to give myself
credit for what I am doing towards my dream every day, instead of berating
myself for not being able to do it all.”
What do you feel you did the strongest last year? How will you
repeat?
“I feel like I was strongest in interview last year because
my job as a college recruiter has prepared me for public speaking situations
and I've been through a lot of job interviews! Now as a sales rep and a Six
Shooter, my job is to talk to strangers of all ages and build relationships.
Hopefully the judges will be able to feel a connection to me in just ten
minutes if I stay confident and trust my training!”
What have you done differently in your preparations this
year?
“This year I wasn't able to have a personal trainer, so I'm
taking a lot of my fitness prep into my own hands, which is hard. I've also
worked with an interview/mental management coach this year to get into a
competitive mindset and tailor my presentation. That is probably the biggest
and most beneficial change between last year and this year! I'm completely self-funded,
so I have had two jobs this year, which makes training more of a challenge. I'm
really focusing on what I'm going to say and having more substance in my
presentation as opposed to my physical appearance.”
If you could go back and tell yourself something before last
year's Miss Texas week, what would it have been?
“To be true to myself! There's a lot of advice out there,
but you never know what the judges are looking for. For instance, I've been
told in the past that pink doesn't look good on redheads, or it makes you look
like a teen. This year, I'll be wearing nothing but pink or royal blue all
week. I'm applying for a job and I'm not trying to defraud the judges - if they
pick me as Miss Texas, I would probably wear pink on an appearance, and I don't
think that makes me juvenile or my message less impactful. It's just being true
to who I am, and that's always makes me feel the most confident!”
Now that you are a seasoned competitor, what advice would
you have for a competitor experiencing Miss Texas week for the first time?
“I still feel like I don't have it all figured out! But I
would advise them to stay in their own lane - the second you start to compare
yourself to someone else, you lose.” (Blog Editor Note: Can we say that again
for the people in the back? This. All. Day!) “Everyone competing is going to
have a unique set of talents, experiences, and struggles that have brought them
to this point. If you made it into this elite group of women, that must mean
there is something special and unique about you, too. The odds are that someone
else in the room is looking at you and wishing they had a quality that you
possess! If you start to feel intimidated, make a point to compliment those
admirable qualities in others. If nothing else, have a reputation for being the
kindest person in the room.”
Any fun or interesting stories or sidenotes you would like
to add?
“I hadn't performed a twirling solo in about four years
before Miss Texas last year and all I wanted was a no drop performance. I got
through my routine, but I had so much adrenaline pumping that the second I
stepped off stage I started ugly crying! I was sobbing so hard, my friend
assumed something horrible had happened or I had hurt myself, but I was just so
relieved. Hopefully this year there won't be tears of any kind...but no
promises.”
Thank you so much to Kimberly for taking time to answer our
questions. We wish you the best of luck as you compete on the Miss Texas stage
looking pretty in pink, and just know, all the Texas twirling community is
behind you! Show them what you got Miss Prestonwood Polo Club!
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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