Natalie Phillips

Guest Writer

On October 22 the Lufkin High School Majorettes participated in a regional UIL Twirling Solo and Ensemble competition here at LHS. The majorettes each performed in a solo and an ensemble group.

Despite the competition of 24 other schools ranging the East Texas area, band director Scott Williams was very confident in the results.

“Our majorettes did a great job,” Williams said. “Overall, we were one of the top performing schools and received 26 out of a possible 40 first division medals.”

With the competition placed in the middle of Homecoming week, just a few days after the band returned home from UIL Marching Contest in Nacogdoches where they received a first division honor, the week was full of school events.
“Considering the hectic week, the girls did wonderfully,” Williams said. “I was impressed by how well the ensemble groups worked together.”

The girls have been preparing for this competition for quite some time and were required to perform their solo’s multiple times in front of their fellow majorettes, their twirling sponsor Anita Scoggins, and the band director.
“Having Scoggins and everyone watch me perform my routine really helped,” sophomore Lauren Hancock said. “Performing in front of my friends is always the hardest, but the critiques make my routine look better.”
Hard work is something sophomore Hannah Williams agreed went into preparing for the event.
“We have been working on our solos and ensembles for about three months,” Williams said. “Twirling UIL is not something that you can prepare for in a day. It takes practice to work up routines to perform for the judges in order to receive a first division.”

Even though the competition requires a lot of time and energy, the girls still enjoyed the event.

“It is definitely not an easy competition, but I love it,” Williams said. “I enjoy preparing solo routines and performing them. I really like the challenges of the competition. Twirling is definitely not as simple as it looks.”
But all of the hours put into the competition definitely paid off when 16 of the girls received the news of their first division solo rating, and 10 of the girls heard of their first division ensemble rating.

First Division Soloists:
-Heather Forrest
-Bailey Gay
-Christina Sweet
-Ashley Rainoshek
-Meagan Adams
-Amy Murray
-Breiann Fryar
-Tori Schwartz
-Becca Miller
-Paige Parker
-Natalie Phillips
-Lauren Hancock
-Hannah Williams
-Grace Cho
-Lauren Kelley
-Lauren Miller

First Division Ensembles:

Group #1
-Bailey Gay
-Lauren Hancock
-Whitney Dougat
-Becca Miller
-Amy Miller
-Paige Parker

Group #2
-Meagan Adams
-Tori Schwartz
-Hannah Williams
-Lacy Harrison