07/31/14
Two Fort Hays State University students brought back a first-place team award and a first-place individual prize from the National Baton Twirling Competition in South Bend, Ind.

They also won the Beth Wilson Wow Award for creativity and the show quality in their routine. Shelby Schumacher, Hays freshman, and Molly Johnson, Phoenix, Ariz. (85023), junior, placed as a team in show twirl, Schumacher also placed first in flag twirling, and Johnson placed second in flag twirling. Johnson also received fifth for three batons, won eighth in a duet with another competitor, and received 10th for a solo performance. About 3,000 competitors were on the Notre Dame campus performing. Both competed in the competition and brought home trophies and medals for their awards.

"It's such an overwhelming feeling knowing that I'm competing with the best of the best," said Schumacher. "I feel fortunate that I get to live out my dream, though it's a little nerve wracking because for those two minutes and thirty seconds I have to put everything out on the floor that I have been working so hard for all year."

Johnson and Schumacher are previous national champions. This was the first time that Fort Hays State has been represented by two twirlers.