Another weekend comes with another gameday, and this week from Stephen F. Austin State University we have, freshman, Kellen Coke. Kellen has been twirling since she was 5 years old in Texas under Mickey’s Majorettes and this past summer she competed in the Miss Majorette of America pageant at AYOP and represented SFA very well. At SFA, Kellen, is majoring in Business Communications.
The Stephen F. Austin Twirl-O-Jacks and feature twirler are under the direction of Candice Curbow and the Stephen F. Austin Marching Band is under the direction Dr. Daniel Haddad. A traditional SFA Game day starts off with the march down East College Street, where the majority of dorms are located, to give a short parade to excite Lumberjack fans. Then the Lumberjack Marching Band and the Twirl-O-Jacks perform by the tailgate at the Ag Pond. Once the morning is settled everyone moves to pre-game where the Lumberjack does a military style march and then the Drum Major and Kellen exchange baton and axe as a fun treat. After pre-game the game begins and then comes everyone's favorite part, halftime. A halftime routine for Kellen involves drill in front and in between the band. As well as her favorite trick, the calypso spin at the beginning of movement 2 because it fits perfectly with the music. Once the game is over the football team makes a trip over to the band to signify the end of a great gameday.
Kellen loves all the aspects of twirling at SFA, from stoning her face sticker, to taking a journey to each twirlers dorm after band camp, and to be twirling at the same school that her mom did! She really feels like she’s living the dream. Kellens mom, 30 years ago, was a Twirl-O-Jack and performed the same pre-game that Kellen is performing now. Along with that she is very thankful for all the supporters and can’t wait for what else twirling will bring her. What a fun game day takeover, don’t forget to come back next week for another twirling takeover and thank you for tuning in this week.