Join us in congratulating our local baton twirling team on their success at The US National Championships and World Championships this summer. In July, The Sundancers competed in The US National Championships held at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee. Here, The Sundancers had the best showing of their career. The Sundancers won the Entertainment Corps division along with The Esprit De Corps Cup awarded to the highest-scoring Corps of the competition.
Seven members of this team competed in The Senior DanceTwirl event with a routine entitled “Voila”: Mckenzie Cooke, Taylor Wolfe, Penelope Abreu, Julia McFadden, Ella Earnest, Avery Earnest, and Dylan Loucks. They made it through the preliminaries and left their hearts on the floor in the final round. “Voila” won the Senior DanceTwirl Team Championship and The Ann Bittenbender Legacy Cup, awarded to the highest-scoring DanceTwirl of the competition. Along with winning two divisions and two of three cups, The Sundancers were awarded The Best Choreography Award of the entire competition.
In August, The Sundancers competed in Liverpool, England, at the first-ever International Baton Twirling Federation World Championships. The event was held at the prestigious M&S Bank Arena. It hosted 1,280 athletes from 21 countries with thousands filling the arena along with being live-streamed worldwide. The three Lake Nona athletes competing in Nations Cup walked with Team USA in the opening ceremony on Aug. 4. On Aug. 5-6, Mckenzie, Taylor and Ella competed in their respective events in the preliminary rounds. The top 10 from the preliminary competition would move onto the final round, competing on Aug. 7. In prelims, Mckenzie received 2nd in Three Baton, 2nd in Two Baton, 4th in Artistic Twirl, and 3rd in X-Strut. After the final rounds, her official placements were:
Adult Three Baton: Silver Medal
Adult Two Baton: Bronze Medal
Adult Artistic Twirl: Bronze Medal
Adult X-Strut: 4th Place
In prelims, Taylor received 5th place in Adult X-Strut. Her final result was:
Adult X-Strut: 5th Place
In prelims, Ella received 2nd place in Senior X-Strut. Her final result was:
Senior X-Strut: Silver Medal
The excitement grew as the rest of the group arrived in Liverpool for The World Championships.
On Aug. 9, all 24 Sundancers took part in the opening ceremony along with over 300 members of Team USA. Back in Florida, it was the first day of school, but in Liverpool on Aug. 10, the Sundancers were preparing for the World Majorette Corps Championships. Early that morning, the Sundancers competed in ShowTwirl with Accessories Corps. They only had one chance to perform in front of the judges, and it brings us great pride to announce this team performed a breathtaking routine on the world stage. All of their hard work had paid off. These girls are proud to have brought home 24 silver medals to the United States.
Next up, Dylan Loucks and Iris Ewasko, who, on Aug. 12, performed their Artistic Pairsroutine. It was their international debut, and these two young athletes performed beautifully. Dylan and Iris received 14th place in Junior Artistic Pairs. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the endless hard work and dedication of Coach Lynette Starkey. She is an amazing Team Coach and Corps Director who made this team who they are. Glenn Bittenbender was also an integral part of this team’s success. He choreographed wonderful numbers and helped the team refine every detail.
The Sundancers are a baton and dance team located in Lake Nona and have classes in Hunters Creek. The Sundancers are looking to expand around Central Florida.
Interested in learning baton? Visit: www.sundancerstwirlers.com or contact us at
sdtwirlers@gmail.com
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Sundancers: International Baton Twirling Federation World Championship Show Twirl with Accessories Corps Silver Medalists.
