Earning a trip to Notre Dame for the National Baton Twirling Championships is a rare fete.
When 10-year old Lynsey Watters was preparing for the trip, she was hoping to win, but had realistic goals of performing well for the judges.
Watters accomplished all her goals by winning the national championship twirling three batons in the nine and under age group, took first place in fancy strut, third place in two-baton and eighth place in show twirl.
Lynsey is the daughter of Darrin and Melissa Watters of RD 5 Tyrone and the granddaughter of John and Joon Watters and Louis and the late Joyce Sellers.
“It feels pretty good to win something this big,” said Lynsey. “I wanted to win, but it was something I didn’t expect to do. It is great to come home a national champion.”
Young Miss Watters competed in the Intermediate Pageant for Miss Majorette of America and brought home a 10th place finish and sixth in modeling of the 30 girls who competed.
Her mother is a former majorette at Tyrone Area High School and is an instructor with the Tyrone Junior High majorettes and the Pink Panther Baton Corps.
“I am very proud of her,” said Melissa Watters. “It is wonderful that one of my daughters loves to twirl. It is something that she chose to do. I encourage and support her in everything she wants to do.”
The youngster is a majorette student of Debbie Bernhart of Altoona and is the feature twirler for the Pink Panther Baton Corps in Tipton. She also is a student of ballet and jazz at Andrea’s School of Dance.
The Daily Herald caught Lynsey before she went to spend a day at the waterpark for the interview and asked her what she and her family did to celebrate the championship?
“We didn’t really celebrate, but my dad is buying me a four-wheeler because I finished in the top-10 overall,” said Lynsey.
“The only condition is that I don’t ride it when it gets close to time for baton season.”
Watters enjoyed her trip to Notre Dame and would have enjoyed it even if she didn’t perform as well as she did.
“It was a fun experience,” said the 10-year-old. “I met a lot of new friends. We all made good luck presents for each other and that is the best part about this. I have a bunch of new pen pals and a lot of e-mail addresses to stay in touch.”
Lynsey is very thankful to the people who have been behind her all the way.
“I want to thank my family for their love and support,” said the national champion. “I also want to thank Campbell Brothers of Manchester for their generosity that helped me make it to nationals, Miss Carol and Debbie who took the extra time to work with me and my pap who is always there for me.”
