Friday Night Lights Feature - Claudia Taylor Johnson High School

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

Another great weekend of twirling means we are at the halfway point of the regular football season. Can you believe it? Only a few more weeks with these amazing twirlers representing on their High School fields. We hope all of you are enjoying it while it lasts. We know we will miss it! In the meantime, we have another Feature Interview with some of our awesome Texas Twirlers for your reading enjoyment this lovely Wednesday.

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!

Our next Friday Night Lights Feature is the Claudia Taylor Johnson HS Feature Twirlers!

Claudia Taylor Johnson High School, also known as CTJ, is located in San Antonio, Texas. It also has a great history of baton twirlers! A fun fact about CTJ is that they have the most twirlers in their school District, and you know we love a supportive school with lots of twirlers! This year, the CTJ Feature Twirlers include Sophie O’Reilly, Madisen Curry, and Joslyn Rodriguez!

We asked them what they had to do to earn their spot, and they told us about their audition process. “We have to perform a 2–3-minute routine in front of our band director with a song and routine of our choice.”

Once selected, they get the opportunity to twirl the CTJ Games, which they say is exciting because, “We always have a full stadium at football games.” In addition to games, they get other fun performance opportunities including pep rallies, and even Fiesta! 

They also have lots of fun traditions. Their two favorites involve a jaguar statue and a ceramic cat! “The football team rubs a golden jaguar before every game for good luck! Also, our band mascot is a blue ceramic cat named Matt, and he is brought onto the field with us during retreat at competitions for good luck.”

Now that we have learned more about CTJ, let’s learn more about the twirlers! 

Sophie O’Reilly, Senior
Competition Level: Advanced
Sophie has been twirling since 2018. She is a member of the Legends Baton Club and is coached by Liane Aramaki. The competition title she is the proudest of was being named the 2024 Miss Majorette of the Southwest. Sophie’s favorite competition trick is spins, and her favorite field tricks are any leap combos. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by former College Miss Majorette of America, Emma Carr. After High School, she hopes to become a college twirler and get a degree in political science and international relations.

Madisen Curry, Senior
Competition Level: Intermediate
Madisen has been twirling for around 9 years now. She is a member of the Heart of Texas Baton Twirling team, and is coached By Maryanne Pozzi. The competition title she is the proudest of earning was when she won the South West Texas Model Pageant at Regionals in 2023. Madisen’s favorite competition trick is either neck rolls or any two baton tricks, and her favorite field trick is mouth rolls, “because they are such a crowd pleaser”. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by former UTSA Feature Twirler, Micheal Lopez. “He taught me that the bad days are the ones that push us towards the most success”. After High School, Madisen hopes to attend Texas State University to Major in Nursing, and eventually become a Labor and Delivery Nurse. “I also want to continue with my Bb Clarinet playing, and become a collegiate Baton twirler.”

Joslyn Rodriguez, Freshman
Competition Level: Intermediate
Joslyn has been twirling for six years. She is a member of the Twirling Sweet Sensations and is coached by Michele Pangrac. The competition title she is the proudest of earning was when she was named the Beginner Pre-Teen Texas Pageant Winner. Joslyn’s favorite competition skills are her rolls, and her favorite field trick is anything with a high toss. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by her coach. After High School, Joslyn hopes to get a teaching degree at Texas A&M. 

Fun Facts!

• Favorite Color - Red (Sophie), Yellow (Madisen), Dark Green (Joslyn)
• Favorite Movie or TV Show - “Crazy Rich Asians” (Sophie), “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (Madisen), “10 Things I Hate About You” (Joslyn)
• Favorite Book - “Rebecca” (Sophie), “Any of the ‘Selection’ Series” (Madisen), “Out of my Mind” (Joslyn)

Must have for Game Days…

• Sophie - “A sweat towel.”
• Madisen - “A Dr. Pepper and a granola bar.”
• Joslyn - “WATER!”

Favorite Quote…

• Sophie - “Everything happens for a reason.”
• Madisen - “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not!” - The Lorax
• Joslyn - “YOLO”

When they are not twirling, they love to…

• Sophie - “Cook and shop!”
• Madisen - “Working on my fiesta train and dress, because this upcoming march I will be crowned the 2025 Princess for the San Antonio Lutheran Coronation.”
• Joslyn - “Hang out with family and friends.”

Something people might not know about them is…

• Sophie - “I am a peer assistant at my school for special education students.”
• Madisen - “I tend to either listen to audio books or podcasts instead of listening to music when practicing, working, or driving.”
• Joslyn - “I like Taylor Swift.”

The best non twirling life skill they have learned from twirling is…

• Madisen - “The ability to speak to adults in a respectful and educated way.”
• Joslyn - “Interviewing.”

Best advice from their coach…

• Sophie - “No matter what, keep smiling!”
• Madisen - “Working hard doesn’t end when your practice session does, it ends when the goal is finally met.”
• Joslyn - “Smile!”

Best advice for future High School twirlers…

• Sophie - “Never be afraid to show off!”
• Madisen - “Enjoy every moment, because it will be over before you know it.”
• Joslyn - “Have fun and shine!”

Funniest/Most Fun memory as a twirler…

• Sophie - “Funny inside jokes between me and my teammates.”
• Madisen - “My freshman year when we would all do duet tricks with the weirdest catches to see who could have the most unique one.”
• Joslyn - “The hangouts with my team.”

Favorite thing about marching season…

• Sophie - “Getting to perform in front of a huge crowd!”
• Madisen - “When we went to Grand Nationals my freshman year, I got to see a crowd of thousands of people full of excitement and energy ready to experience our show. It was so exciting and really powered my drive to have the best performance I could.”
• Joslyn - “Getting to show off what I love!”

What are they going to miss the most once marching season is over…

• Sophie - “Twirling alongside my friends.”
• Madisen - “I will miss being with my best friends everyday, and enjoying the jokes, laughs, and memories made from being with each other every day, as well as the funny moments from my directors, and of course Friday Night Lights with Claudia Taylor Johnson High School Marching Band.”
• Joslyn - “Sophie & Madisen!”

We want to thank Sophie, Madisen, and Joslyn for sharing their Game Day with us. It was so fun seeing what it is like to be a CTJ Feature Twirler, and we know they will have a great rest of their season. Go Jags!

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.