Junior Katie Harris has been twirling since the age of nine. It first peaked her interest because Harris thought, “I hadn’t seen any of my friends do it and I thought it would be fun.” Growing up with interests in dance and gymnastics, she thought it was a unique combination of both—a way to combine Harris’ passions into one.

Harris was a part of Fossil Ridge High School’s dance team sophomore year to get involved with the school, while continuing to keep baton as her main sport. She found it difficult to do both because of being constantly busy. She decided to take junior year off of the team to manage both coach changes and her commitment to baton.

Through discipline and goal setting, Harris practices every day—two to three hours during the school year, and two to six hours in the summer. She enjoys the challenge of baton, constantly learning new skills and improving her abilities. Harris’ coach lives in Pennsylvania, and she practices alone between times when she receives coaching. Harris said, “I have to be very responsible for practicing daily and working hard in between the times that I get to meet with him.”

In between performances and competitions, Harris finds it difficult to stay motivated. She sometimes gets frustrated and wants to give up, so Harris uses goal setting to keep her on track. Despite this, she still enjoys the process, and constantly wants to improve. “I also really like that you can never stop learning or be too good. There’s always room to grow and get better and that keeps me motivated,” she claimed.

While performing, Harris stays completely focused. During competitions, she feels like she is by herself, as if it is just her and the judges. Halftime performances at Fossil are a little different. Harris finds it more difficult to stay focused with the crowd, but enjoys feeling the energy and reactions coming from everyone in the room.

A highlight from performing for Harris has been doing fire baton for a football game. She coordinated with the fire department to be able to do it, and enjoyed that performance. During Twirl Mania she competed in individual events, placing third in High School Classic. For this event, she did a routine in her Fossil uniform and twirled to band music. She also found success in the All-Around event, placing in the top ten.

In July, Harris will compete in the national competition at the University of Notre Dame. She plans to twirl both competitively and with school all the way through college. She has not decided on a university yet, but will audition for the feature twirler position at a few major universities.

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