From a young age, freshman Christina Paterson could not be found without one of her mom’s old batons in hand. 

Paterson, Highland Park’s newest feature twirler, started competing at 10-years-old in New Jersey, but has always been twirling around the house.

“It was mainly my mom, who got me into twirling because she kept a bunch of her old batons,” Paterson said.

Twirling is a dynamic and artistic sport that includes dancing, performing and catching the baton while doing complex tricks.

“The biggest misconception is probably that the hardest part is catching the baton, yes that’s a hard part, but a lot of twirling is working on bodywork and rolls and everything and making sure all flows,” Paterson said.

Paterson practices everyday for multiple hours perfecting routines, learning new skills and becoming a more experienced twirler. She does skills and competition practices on top of daily stretches to work on flexibility.

“I usually pick a song and I just listen to it and see what tricks usually go with the beat. I made the duet for Mimi [Tafel] and I for the pep rally this week,” Paterson said.

Like many other sports, twirling is not only about the competition aspect. For Paterson, twirling has been a great place to meet new people and become connected in high school. 

“I have made a whole bunch of friends on my team, but I think it’s also almost given me a part of my identity,” Paterson said.

For Paterson, a big part of twirling is putting in the work to grow, as twirling requires a lot of practice in order to improve.

“From those first skills until today, she has just really progressed pretty quickly and improved a lot,” Paterson’s coach Sheila Rigelsky said.

Twirling, like many other sports, requires time and effort. Paterson practices multiple times a week at many different classes. She also practices at home with her mom and in the mornings before school.

“She’s always had a really good work ethic and wanted to succeed at things,” Rigelsky said.

As a twirler, Paterson has the opportunity to perform at pep rallies, football games and competitions.

“The best part is definitely getting to perform and the costumes are so beautiful,” Paterson said.

When Paterson moved from New Jersey she started taking lessons at Texas Touch of Class with Sheila Rigelsky, who is now her full time coach. 

“She definitely likes to learn new tricks, just always willing to try no matter what and just happy to learn,” Rigelsky said.

Paterson is not only an amazing twirler but is also known for her positive attitude and willingness enjoy even the hardest of practices.  

“If we are having a bit of a harder band practice, or we are running across the field. She always looks at me and has a smile on her face.” fellow feature twirler Mimi Tafel said.

“A lot of times when she tries a brand new trick, she’s excited to do that, but it doesn’t always go the way anyone plans and she does not get overly frustrated,” Rigelsky said.

While performing is fun, it can also cause a lot of stress. Understanding how to deal with stress and nervousness is a big part of twirling.

“I don’t really get nervous until right before I’m about to go on and it just all hits me at once, so I just take a bunch of deep breaths,” Paterson said.

As a freshman, Paterson is new to performing at games and pep rallies, bringing nerves that can take awhile to get used to.

“Christiana should always be confident in herself because she’s such an amazing human being and such an amazing twirler,” Tafel said.

Paterson doesn’t know what she wants to do after high school but she has a solid plan for the next four years.

“Right now, my plan is to twirl all through high school. I’m not sure about college because that’s awhile away but right now my goal is to twirl throughout high school,” Paterson said.