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Team USA Preparing for

World Baton Twirling Championships

US Athletes To Compete on Home Turf

 

 

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN – A talented team of three men and 16 women are preparing to represent the United States at the 26 th World Baton Twirling Championships, to be held August 4-7, 2005, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre's Roy Wilkins Auditorium. More than 300 athletes from nine countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, Croatia and Japan, will compete for bronze, silver and gold medals in the twirling equivalent of the Olympic Games.

Team USA members will compete in men's and women's individual events, pairs and team events. The U.S. athletes collectively form one of the strongest teams in the competition, and should be in medal contention in all categories.

Team USA athletes were selected during the U.S. Trials competition, held April 1-3 in Arlington, Texas. Team members hail from 10 different states, range in age from 14 to 31, and include a brother and sister as well as several former world champions. Team USA members are:

Junior Women
Chelsea Russell, age 15, New York

Alexa Bourdage, age 16, Indiana

Danielle Cobb, age 15,

Makenzie Snyder, age 14, Maryland

Junior Men
Drew Abramson, age 15, Maryland

Junior Pairs
Kristin Zeuch, age 14, New York
Melissa De Conza, age 15, New York

Team - Syndication
Stephanie Dallachiesa, age 22, MD Amanda Duffy, age 18, Maryland, Ashlyn Forde, age 18, New York Jenny Hannah, age 31, Tennessee, Brandi Hart, age 25, Louisiana Monica Lee, age 21, California, Melissa Weygand, age 25, Maryland Karissa Wimberley, age 19, Florida

Senior Women
Jenny Hannah, age 31, Tennessee

Jennifer Marcus, age 21, Florida

Virginia Kendra McAtee, age 21, Oregon

Karissa Wimberley, age 19, Florida

Senior Men
Jason Lee, age 23, California
Michael Harris, age 18, Ohio

Senior Pairs
Jason Lee, age 23, California
Monica Lee, age 21, California

In addition to their involvement in the sport of baton twirling, Team USA members are involved in many educational and community activities. For example, Kendra McAtee is completing her nursing degree at the University of Portland , Monica Lee is a senior at UCLA where she is studying musical theater and Ashlyn Forde is a pre-med and political science major at Duke University . Makenzie Snyder founded Children to Children, a group that has raised more than $850,000 and distributed more than 36,000 duffel bags to foster children across the country.

Minnesotans can see Team USA in action during the 26 th World Baton Twirling Championships. The excitement begins on Thursday, August 4, with the 2005 International Cup, a competition featuring Team USA members and other athletes from around the world competing in individual and group events using one, two and three batons. World Championship Preliminaries will be held on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6, and the Finals will be held on Sunday, August 7. Highlights of the schedule are as follows:

•  Thursday, August 4 – 2005 International Cup

    • 9:00 a.m. – Opening Ceremonies
    • 9:30 a.m. – Solo (one baton) Preliminaries and Finals
    • 1:30 p.m. – 2 and 3-Baton Preliminaries and Finals
    • 4:00 p.m. – Group Competition
    • 5:45 p.m. – Short Program Competition
    • 6:15 p.m. – Awards and Closing Ceremonies
  • Friday, August 5 – World Championships
    • 1:00 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies
    • 6:00 p.m. – Junior and Seniors Pairs Preliminaries
  • Saturday, August 6 – World Championships
    • 1:00 p.m. – Junior and Senior Women Preliminaries
    • 4:30 p.m. – Junior and Senior Men Preliminaries
    • 6:00 p.m. – Team Preliminaries
  • Sunday, August 7 – World Championships

•  10:00 a.m. – Junior and Senior Women Finals

•  11:00 a.m. – Junior and Senior Men Finals

•  1:30 p.m. – Junior and Senior Pair Finals

•  3:15 p.m. – Team Finals

•  4:30 p.m. – Awards and Closing Ceremonies

 

For more information about the World Championships, visit www.worldbaton2005.com. Tickets range in price from $12 to $18 and are available through Ticketmaster , by phone at 651-989-5151, by fax at 651-726-8246 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

About the United States Twirling Association: The United States Twirling Association (USTA) is dedicated to the development and advancement of the sport of baton twirling. The USTA is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization, founded in 1958, to provide opportunities for its members and supporters to participate in the sport of baton twirling through recreational, educational and competitive programs. The USTA has more than 6,000 members. It provides educational programs for athletes, coaches and judges, and sanctions more than 200 local, state, regional and national competitions each year. The USTA is a member of the World Baton Twirling Federation, and selects a team each year to represent the United States in the World Baton Twirling Championships. The USTA is the first national twirling organization to be run democratically and it remains the only twirling organization that elects its Board of Directors through its membership.

About the World Baton Twirling Federation : The increasing popularity of the sport of baton twirling throughout the world brought about the formation of the W orld Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF) in 1977 to develop, promote and standardize the sport of baton twirling. The WBTF offers international clinics for athletes, a standardized Judges' Training Program and sanctions the World Baton Twirling Championships. Member countries of the WBTF are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Scotland, Seychelles, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.