'It's just tremendous': Six FSU students compete in the World Baton Twirling Championship

Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat
Updated ·3 min read
Florida State University students pose at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England. (Left to right: Mikayla Schuller, Jasmine Evans, Madison Frisby, Samantha Merigliano, Lexie Stade, Kylee Saltsman)
Florida State University students pose at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England. (Left to right: Mikayla Schuller, Jasmine Evans, Madison Frisby, Samantha Merigliano, Lexie Stade, Kylee Saltsman)

Four majorettes and two feature twirlers of Florida State University’s Marching Chiefs have taken their talents abroad, representing Team USA.

The performers are competing in a series of the International Baton Twirling Federation (IBTF) World Championships in Liverpool, England, and one of the majorettes — 20-year-old Miami native Lexie Stade — has been twirling competitively for 16 years in preparation for the big moment with it being her first World Championship.

“Twirling at the World Championships was something I always dreamed of as a little girl,” said Stade, a rising FSU junior double majoring in psychology and family and child sciences. “I watched these amazing twirlers and wanted to be just like them, and knowing that there are little girls and boys out there watching me the same way keeps me motivated.”

Florida State University student and Marching Chiefs majorette Lexie Stade (left) poses with another Team USA competitor at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England, where they won ninth place in the Nations Cup's artistic pairs competition.
Florida State University student and Marching Chiefs majorette Lexie Stade (left) poses with another Team USA competitor at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England, where they won ninth place in the Nations Cup's artistic pairs competition.

The FSU group of six students — feature twirlers Mikayla Schuller and Madison Frisby along with majorettes Stade, Jasmine Evans, Samantha Merigliano and Kylee Saltsman — have been in England with their Team USA coaches since Aug. 4 and are competing in the IBTF competitions that consist of the Nations Cup, World Baton Twirling Championship and World Majorette Championship.

"This many athletes coming from one university I would say is pretty rare," FSU Majorettes Coach Sean Wimberley told the Tallahassee Democrat. "To see them excel overseas is something we're just very happy about."

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While the Nations Cup portion of the championships concluded Tuesday, preliminaries and finals for the remaining competitions are taking place this weekend.

Stade will be competing in the World Championship’s artistic team finals Sunday after already winning ninth place in a duet performance and fifth place in a team performance earlier in the week.

“Being at such a large competition, it’s hard to feel like you belong, but I’ve always been told that I earned my spot like everyone else,” Stade said.

Florida State University student and Marching Chiefs majorette Lexie Stade performs with other Team USA competitors at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England.
Florida State University student and Marching Chiefs majorette Lexie Stade performs with other Team USA competitors at the 2023 World Baton Twirling Championship in Liverpool, England.

The championships include a variety of individual, duet and team events, according to the FSU Marching Chiefs’ Visual Teams Coordinator Heather Bishop, who works closely with the six students.

Since Bishop also serves as an assistant dean in undergraduate studies at FSU and is getting ready for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 28, she has been following the students on their journey via Instagram, Facebook and picture mail.

“Our girls take their craft very seriously, and they love Marching Chiefs more than anything,” Bishop told the Democrat. “We are so proud of them and how they represent FSU across the country and across the world. It's just tremendous.”

Heather Bishops is an assistant dean in undergraduate studies at Florida State University and is also a visual teams coordinator for FSU's Marching Chiefs.
Heather Bishops is an assistant dean in undergraduate studies at Florida State University and is also a visual teams coordinator for FSU's Marching Chiefs.

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She says the students had to place at a certain level at national competitions to be able to compete in the twirling events at a world level.

Earlier this year, three of the majorettes placed in the top seven at the National Collegiate Majorette Championships out of over 40 competitors before moving on to the world championships.

“It's not something that many people get to do,” Bishop said. “It takes so much skill and dedication, and they put in so much time and effort.”

As the FSU group of twirlers and majorettes will wrap up their final competitions over the weekend, they are also getting ready to return to Tallahassee Sunday as the Marching Chiefs band camp on campus starts Aug. 18.

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The world championships taking place Saturday and Sunday will be livestreamed throughout the day starting at 8:30 a.m. (GMT+1) and can be viewed via YouTube. The schedule for the competitions can be found on the IBTF website.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU twirlers, majorettes compete at World Baton Twirling Championship