Boiler Bytes: Purdue Golden Girl wins highest national honor for twirling

THE GOLDEN GIRL HAS BEEN A LONG-STANDING TRADITION HERE
AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, PERFORMING AT THE FOOTBALL GAMES
WITH THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY MARCHING BAND.
THE POSITION WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED BACK IN 1954
BY THE DIRECTOR OF BANDS.
THIS BYTE IS ALL ABOUT THE CURRENT GOLDEN GIRL --
NUMBER 27.
MerrieBeth COX IS A MASTER TWIRLER.
SHE WAS JUST RECENTLY RANKED FIRST IN THE NATION,
THIRD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, AND SHE IS ONLY A SOPHOMORE.
SHE HAS ACHIEVED SO MUCH, AND I GOT CURIOUS ABOUT TWIRLING.
SO, MerrieBeth, IS IT AS HARD AS IT LOOKS?
IT DEFINITELY IS.
I'VE BEEN TWIRLING SINCE I'VE BEEN 3 YEARS OLD,
AND IT'S TAKEN ME FROM 3 TO 19 TO BECOME THE TYPE
OF TWIRLER I AM, SO I WOULD SAY IT'S KIND OF HARD.
WHAT KIND OF TRAINING DO YOU DO?
I'VE PRACTICED EVERY DAY SINCE I'VE BEEN 3 YEARS OLD,
TWO HOURS A DAY, LEARNING NEW TRICKS.
ONCE ONE ROUTINE GETS EASY, THEN YOU MAKE IT HARDER.
AND ONCE YOU START DOING NO DROPS, THEN IT'S TOO EASY,
SO THEN THEY MAKE IT EVEN HARDER.
AND SO YOU JUST KEEP UPPING YOUR DIFFICULTY LEVEL.
OKAY, AND THAT DIFFICULTY LEVEL --
HOW'D THAT GET YOU TO BEING THE GOLDEN GIRL?
EXPLAIN THAT.
I GUESS ALL THE DIFFERENT TRICKS.
I HAVE VERY UNIQUE TRICKS THAT I CAN DO.
EACH TWIRLER HAS A UNIQUE TRICK.
AND THE UNIQUE TRICKS THAT I CAN DO, I THINK,
REALLY HELPED ME BECOME THE GOLDEN GIRL --
AND DIFFERENT TRICKS.
AND SO ALL THIS HARD TRAINING IS --
I WAS ABLE TO WALK INTO AUDITIONS
AND REALLY SHOW THEM A DIFFERENT,
DIFFICULT, FUN ROUTINE.
SO, YOU JUST RECENTLY PLACED FIRST IN THE NATION
AND THIRD IN THE WORLD.
TELL ME ABOUT THAT.
IT WAS SO VERY EXCITING.
FIRST, TO GO TO WORLDS, YOU HAVE TO QUALIFY
AT THE PREVIOUS NATIONALS.
AND IT'S REALLY COOL, BECAUSE WE CALL IT OUR OLYMPICS,
'CAUSE IT'S ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS,
AND ONLY THE TOP THREE GIRLS GO.
THERE WAS OVER 27 COUNTRIES THERE, SO IT TRULY WAS
LIKE OUR OWN OLYMPICS.
AND, THEN, NATIONALS THIS YEAR -- I WON THE PAGEANT.
AND THE FEELING IS JUST SO AMAZING,
AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT FINALLY HAPPENED.
YOU'VE ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH.
WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO AFTER THIS?
ARE YOU GONNA TAKE THESE SKILLS AND DO SOMETHING ELSE?
WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?
THE REALLY GREAT THING ABOUT BATON IS,
IT TRULY DOES TEACH YOU HARD WORK AND DEDICATION.
SO NOT ONLY CAN I APPLY THAT TO MY TWIRLING
AND TO MY FUTURE CAREER GOALS AS A TEACHER AND IN MY SCHOOLWORK,
I ALSO CAN APPLY IT
TO MY EVERYDAY LIFE, WHICH IS WONDERFUL.
AND, THEN, ALSO, WHEN YOU JOIN BATON, IT'S REALLY HARD TO GET
OUT OF IT, SO I'M SURE I'LL BECOME A BATON TEACHER
AND COME BACK TO ALL THE PURDUE GAMES
AND MAYBE EVEN HAVE MY OWN BATON TEAM.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WHO'S TO SAY WHAT'S IN STORE?
SO, I ASKED EARLIER IF THIS WAS HARD,
AND RIGHT NOW I THINK I'M ABOUT TO FIND OUT.
OKAY, SAM, WE'RE GONNA START WITH AN ADVANCED TRICK,
SO YOU'RE GONNA DO PULL UP, THUMB TOSS, TWO SPIN.
SO PULL UP...
THUMB TOSS...
ONE, TWO...
CATCH. OKAY.
ALL RIGHT.
HERE WE GO.
UH-HUH. OKAY.
OOPS. OOH.
GOT ONE OF THEM.
IT WAS CLOSE.
YEAH. IT WAS CLOSE.
THAT WAS GREAT.
OKAY, SO, YOU KNOW WHAT?
LET'S TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH, OKAY?
SO, WE'RE GONNA STILL DO THE PULL UP, THUMB TOSS,
BUT WE'RE JUST GONNA CATCH OUR FOOT.
SO PULL UP...
THUMB TOSS...
CATCH... CATCH.
THAT'S THE PART THAT'S GONNA GET ME.
OKAY. ALL RIGHT.
PULL UP...
UH-HUH. THUMB TOSS...
CATCH... OOH!
WITH ONE HAND.
THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD.
GOT IT. OKAY.
UM...MAYBE WE'LL JUST TAKE IT DOWN --
SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT EASIER, TOO.
SO PUT THE BATON IN YOUR RIGHT HAND, SQUEEZE IT TIGHT,
GET THAT LEFT HAND WAY ON YOUR HIP, AND PUT YOUR FEET TOGETHER.
PERFECT. OKAY.
IT'S CALLED "FIGURE EIGHTS," BUT WE KNOW IT
AS "CHOCOLATE VANILLA."
SO, YOU WANT SOME CHOCOLATE, THEN YOU WANT SOME VANILLA.
OKAY, KEEP GOING.
CHOCOLATE.
VANILLA. PERFECT.
YOU GOT THIS ONE.
ALL RIGHT.
ALL RIGHT.
WELL, APPARENTLY, I'VE GOT "CHOCOLATE VANILLA" DOWN,
AND APPARENTLY, THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT DOWN.
SO, YOU CAN CATCH MerrieBeth AND THE REST
OF THE PURDUE MARCHING BAND THIS FALL
AT PURDUE HOME FOOTBALL GAMES.
FOR "BOILER BYTES," I'M SAM KILLERMAN.