Sophomore Taylor Herrmann is a majorette at the University of Central Missouri’s Featured Twirlers and has been using her skills in dance, movement and gymnastics in the sport for over 12 years. Her time and energy have helped her qualify for baton twirling at the International Baton Twirling Federation World Baton Twirling Championships on August 2023 in Liverpool, England.
“It’s definitely exciting, my team has been working towards this since we got started,” Herrmann said. “[Going to Worlds] is what you work for and that’s the main goal. I always wanted to go to Worlds.”

Throughout the previous months, Herrmann earned many competition wins to be awarded her spot at Worlds. Each competition advanced her to the next level, which ranged from the State championship in St. Louis, to the Regionals competition in Chicago to the National competition at Notre Dame University.
Herrmann placed first at Nationals which qualified her for the collegiate level at the Worlds competition. Her Nationals performance qualified her for many upcoming events at Worlds. Her first event is modeling with a baton and the second is strutting with a baton, which is moving without the baton leaving her hands. She will also do a soloist baton and a field competition, which is where the twirler performs a variety of tricks. The final competition is showcasing her work and represented UCM in two minutes.                      Herrmann said she is excited to travel to England next year, but until then, she practices daily and has been busy since the semester started with a new duet partner, sophomore Austin Moyer.    Herrmann and Moyer will be performing at the UCM home football games on Oct. 1, 15, 29 and Nov. 5. Moyer says he likes twirling and that Herrmann makes him better each day.
“Taylor knows what she wants and she strives for perfection which is a really good quality for a baton because every day you want to get better and better at a certain skill and she really pushes me to work on my technique and my performance ability,” Moyer said.

During the academic year, Herrmann choreographs performances for the UCM football games, UCM’s Homecoming Week and the annual Twirler for a Day event. Twirler for a Day is an opportunity for twirlers of all ages to learn from experienced twirlers by performing and experiencing what it is like to twirl at UCM. She is also preparing to walk in the UCM Homecoming parade with 15 people for Twirler for a Day.

UCM Baton Coordinator Amanda Sporlenski has been coaching Herrmann for two years. Sporlenski said Herrmann works well at practice and supports her teammates so that they perform well together.
“It’s such a wonderful opportunity for anyone and to be able to go with her team back in St. Louis is super awesome and such an honor to represent the U.S. and UCM,” Sporlenski said.