Friday Night Lights Feature - Hutto High School

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

We are back for week four of High School Football! This year may look a little different, but twirlers all over Texas are making it work, and we are so excited to be able to Feature many of them over the next couple of months. As those Friday Night Lights turn on in stadiums all over Texas, we hope to see many face masks and safety precautions being taken so that we can continue to enjoy the sights and sounds of football teams, marching bands, and our favorite, lots of talented baton twirlers! 

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

This weekend’s Friday Night Lights Feature is the Hutto High School Feature Twirler! 

Hutto High School is located in Hutto, Texas, which is a suburb north east of Austin. Many of you may be familiar with Hutto High School as it is the location of the Annual ATX Holiday Twirling Festival. Hutto is also the home of the legendary Hippos! A fun fact is that Hutto is the only High School in the whole country with a Hippo as their mascot, a fact that Hutto Nation is extremely proud of! If you travel to Hutto, you will be greeted with Hippo statues at almost every single business, and many of the houses, in the city.

Not only is Hutto proud of their Hippo mascot, they are also very proud of their Feature Twirler, Maggie Chrudimsky! On Friday evening we got to follow along with Maggie as she shared what a Hutto Game Day looks like with her @twirlingiscatchingtx Insta-Story takeover. Today, we get to learn more about being the Hutto Feature Twirler!

We asked Maggie how the audition process works to be named the Hutto Feature Twirler, and she told us it was pretty standard. “For the audition process, we have to get two teacher recommendations, write an essay about why we would be a good fit, fill out an application, and perform a routine for the Colorguard coach and band directors or other person at the audition.” Maggie was named the Feature Twirler starting her Freshman year, and Friday was her first game as Junior.

With this being a very strange year for many, we asked how COVID-19 has affected the Fall for Hutto. “First, our season was adjusted by pushing back the first football game. They also made it so that the band cannot go to away games, and they are not letting as many people into the games as they normally do. School wise, the year started virtual for the first five weeks and then we went back in person.”

Beyond the serious obsession with Hippos, Hutto has many traditions and shows a ton of pride in their school/city. One of the biggest inside jokes for the Marching Band is also a display of that pride. “At the beginning of every football game, the Band marches into the stadium together and we walk around the track on the away side to show off how big our band is to the visiting team.”  

Another great tradition for the whole school is the pep rallies before every home game. All the spirit organizations get to perform, and it really hypes up the entire school to cheer on the football team that night. Maggie performs each year, and last year was even on the morning news when Hutto was the Game of the Week for a local news station. Sadly due to COVID, they are not able to hold in person pep rallies this year, but are working on some virtual options. 
 
Now that we learned a little more about Hutto, let’s learn about Maggie!

Maggie Chrudimsky
Junior Feature Twirler
Maggie has been twirling for 14 years and is coached by Lynn Dell Harrell. Her favorite field trick is a toss roundoff back handspring. The competition placement she is the proudest of was when she earned 6th place in Two Baton at the International Cup. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by Adaline Bebo. After High School she hopes to become a Feature Twirler at Baylor University. 

Fun Facts!
Favorite Color – Blue
Favorite Music – Country Music
Favorite Quote – “Everything happens for a reason.”

When she is not twirling, she loves to… “Hangout with friends or cook.”

Most memorable advice from her coach… “Point your toes!”

Favorite Twirling Experience... “When I got to go to France to compete in the International Cup.”

Funniest Twirling Memory… “When I was practicing, and my baton landed in a trash can!”

We asked her when marching season is over, what she will miss the most, and she told us, “being with friends and making memories at the games and marching competitions.” While sadly there are no competitions for the Hutto Band this season, Maggie still gets to enjoy her favorite part of the season, which is the football games! “I really enjoy going to all of the football games and supporting the team.”
 
With all the changes due to the quarantine, and having many events cancelled, we wanted to know how Maggie moved forward and what difficulties she faced. “Even though we weren't having competitions, I still continued to practice. Some of the biggest challenges though were not having my team to practice with and my twirling sisters there to support me, and also finding somewhere with a high enough ceiling since everything was closed.”

Finally, we asked Maggie for her best advice to share with any twirlers hoping to one day twirl for their High School, and she told us that perseverance is key. “Never give up even when you think you can’t do a trick or something. Keep trying and you will get it!” In fact, Maggie feels that learning to really push for the things you want is the best life skill she has learned from being a baton twirler. “When you really want something, work hard for it.”

We want to thank Maggie for sharing her Game Day, and we wish her a great season! Hippos fight!

We hope you have enjoyed this edition of our FNL Feature. Have a favorite HS or Collegiate Twirler that you would like to see interviewed? Please contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com with their name and email address so that we can reach out to them!