Friday Night Lights Feature - TW College Park High School

Hello Texas Twirl Fans!

The sights and sounds of football (and band) season are all around us, and we just love seeing the twirlers sparkle and shine each week. We also loved following this week’s Friday Night Lights Feature as she took over the Instastory, and we are excited to learn more about her! 

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 TW College Park High School Feature Twirler!

The Woodlands College Park High School, located in The Woodlands, Texas, can be found a little north of Houston, and is a sight familiar to many NBTA twirlers in Texas! It is also the home of today’s Feature Twirler, Jacie Conway!

A fun thing about twirling at TWCPHS is that Jacie is part of a great legacy of awesome Mickey’s Majorettes that have twirled there before her. “My previous duet partner Sophia Dinubilo, my twirler sponsor Madison (Frantzen) Macurdy, and my coach Kayli Mickey-McIntosh were also Feature Twirlers at College Park!”
  
We asked Jacie what she had to do to join this legacy, and she told us about the audition process. “For the audition I had to do a routine to the song of my choice and the routine had to have 1,2 and 3 batons and meet a list of requirements.” Then, as her first performance as the Cavalier Feature Twirler, Jacie was able to perform in the Montgomery County 4th of July Parade, where her duet partner and outgoing TWCP Feature Twirler, Sophia, “passed the baton” down to Jacie and walked by her side during the event. What a memorable tradition!

Jacie feels very lucky to have the support she does at TWCP. “My favorite thing about CP is that I am very fortunate to have awesome band and color guard directors that put me in the band show. I know not every band program allows a twirler to be in the show and I am so grateful that they always include me because it is truly one of my favorite things I have done as a twirler.”

During the fall Jacie has so many things to look forward to! While the pep rallies at every home game are always a highlight, she is just as excited each time she gets to perform with the band. “I am looking forward to being in the CP band show and competing with the band! It has made all the hard work I have put into twirling worth it!”

Now that we have heard more about twirling at TWCPHS, let’s learn more about Jacie!

Jacie Conway, Junior
Jacie has been twirling since she was two and started competitively twirling when she was five. She is a member of the Mickey's Majorettes, where she is coached by Kayli Mickey-McIntosh and Patti Mickey, with support from her TWCPHS twirling sponsor, Madison Macurdy. The competition placement she is the proudest of earning was when her and her duet partner placed 4th at the 2023 Nations Cup in Liverpool, England. “My duet partner, Sophia Dinubilo, was my duet partner for 7 years so it was a very meaningful placement after the many years of hard work together!” Her favorite competition trick is an illusion walkover and her favorite field trick is a double walkover. In baton twirling, she has been most inspired by “All of the older twirlers that I have watched growing up and are now twirling at colleges.” After High School Jacie plans to get a degree in nursing and hopefully continue twirling in college.

Favorite color: Pink
Favorite TV show/movie: “The Summer I Turned Pretty”
Favorite book: “Hunger Games”

Must-have Game Day snack/drink: 
“Starbucks Strawberry Refresher before the game.”

Favorite Quote or Life Motto: 
“Everything happens for a reason.”

When she is not twirling, she loves to… 
“Over the summer I discovered I like to play golf even though I'm not good!”

Something people may not know about her… 
“I am a student in the Academy of Science and Technology, a magnet program at The Woodlands College Park High School that emphasizes the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).”

The best life lesson she has learned from twirling is…

“Interviewing and communication! Hands down, all the years of practicing interviews has helped me exponentially in life in general and is what helped me get into the Academy.”

The most memorable advice from her coach… 
“Hard work will eventually pay off even when you don’t see results immediately.”

Advice to future high school twirlers…
“Make friends with people in the band because it makes the experience so much more fun as you spend a lot of time with your band friends after school for practices and competitions.”

Her funniest memory as a twirler…
“I have a ton of funny twirling memories but the best were with Sophia Dinubilo, as we traveled a lot together for competitions with duet so we spent tons of time together with many laughs and were really close.”

Her favorite thing about marching season… 
“Performing in the College Park Marching Band show alongside the best friends I’ve made through the band. Performing in the marching show has not only allowed me to share unforgettable moments with them, but it has also given me the chance to showcase the hard work, dedication, and teamwork that we put in together. I especially value the privilege of being able to perform as a feature twirler in the show, since I know many schools don’t offer that opportunity.”

What will she miss the most when marching season ends… 
“Going into the stands after the halftime show and visiting my friends in different sections of the band. I love joining in on the fun stand chants and dances with my band friends. I will also miss performing in the marching show itself.”

We want to thank Jacie for sharing her Game Day with us, and we wish her an amazing rest of her field and marching competition season! Go Cavaliers!

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.