Two girls from Pierce County have qualified to be part of Team USA’s baton twirling team. Harlow Ragsdale, 14, and Kendall Yeomans, 11, will be taking a plane to Italy, where they will compete in an athletic event described as the “Olympics of baton twirling.”
Harlow Ragsdale is the oldest daughter of Jason and Haley Ragsdale (CHECK THIS) and a freshman at PCHS. Kendall Yeomans is the daughter of Lee and Danielle Yeomans.
In an ironic coincidence, Ragsdale and Yeomans are aware of each other, but have always trained with different coaches and qualified for their trips to Italy in different ways. Yeomans is also a Pierce Middle schoolmate and good friend of Ragsdale’s younger sister, Haven.
Though the path to Italy was unique to each girl, the parents of each child attest that Ragsdale and Yeomans devoted a lot of time, focus, energy and dedication to get there.
Ragsdale began twirling at the age 5 with Center Stage Studio in Waycross where she also took dance and acrobatics classes.
“Mrs. Ann Combs started coaching me for baton twirling and she taught classes there at the studio,” says Ragsdale. “My grandmother, Pam Brooks, twirled in high school and my mom twirled for several years, so I guess you can say I’m a third generational baton twirler.”
Ragsdale attended her first competition that same year, starting off at the novice level. It takes getting a certain number of wins to move to the next, which is beginner and so on, through intermediate up to advanced. “That is the highest level, which is where I am now,” Ragsdale explains. “The baton twirling world is extremely competitive. Most girls put in hours everyday practicing when you get to the advanced level.”
Of course, you can be a baton twirler and not compete, but competing is what got both Ragsdale and Yeomans to where they are now, on the cusp of an exciting journey to another country.
The M Twirling Team to which Ragsdale belongs is based out of State College, Pennsylvania, run by Matt and Meredith Freeman, the feature twirler for Penn State University and a twirler on the line there respectively.
Harlow’s mom says her daughter has always been blessed with wonderful coaches who are like her family.
“Mrs. Ann, Matt, and Meredith are excellent role models for Harlow. When we decided to start traveling to PA, I was worried about it, because Harlow is reserved and quiet but she loves her team up there,” says Harlow’s mother. “The team is made up of members from Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. They have all become a family.”
Unfortunately, not every member of that baton twirling family can go to Italy. Seven members qualified individually in their age groups for specific disciplines to go. Athletes from all over the country came to the qualifier, which was held in January in South Carolina for a chance to represent United States.
Kendall Yeomans was at that qualifying event, but on a different team, competing for the same chance to represent the U.S. in her own age group.
“Kendall... is a part of Excite out of Waycross. Her coaches are Megan Tapley and Sissy Dewitt,” says Yeomans’s mother.
Younger than Ragsdale, Yeomans started dancing and twirling at age 3 and has won two national titles, 2023 Beginner Juvenile Pageant Winner of America and 2024 Intermediate Preteen Pageant Winner of America. Both national competitions were held at the University of Notre Dame. Yeomans was also the World Open 10 Year Old Intermediate Strut Champion, all of which culminated in the qualifying event in SC.
“They had to compete at a World qualifier competition this past January.’ Mrs. Yeomans says. “Girls from all over the country were there.”
The Ragsdales explain baton twirling has multiple different organizations and until they combine into one unified group, baton twirling cannot be an event in the Olympic Games. So, the gathering in Italy basically is the Olympics for baton twirling.
To go to Italy, competitors have to qualify as one of the top two in 2-Baton (twirling two batons at once) and in the top four for XStrut (a choreographed routine using marching steps and baton work in combination with rhythmic music).
Ragsdale qualified for Junior 2-Baton and Junior X-Strut for the 15-17 age group, though she is still only 14. Rules state twirlers have to compete in the age range they fall into at the end of the current year.
Yeomans qualified for XStrut in her age group. This secured her spot on Team USA, where she is one of the youngest participants.
That made it official. Two Pierce County girls are going to Italy.
Ragsdale flies to Pennsylvania a few times a year to work with the M Twirling Team and has flown to competitions in other states, but neither she nor her mother have ever flown out of the country before. Yeomans has been on a plane before, but she has never been on a flight this long. Both are a little nervous, and possibly so are the parents accompanying them.
One thing the PCHS freshman is not nervous about is the outcome.
“Sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t. No matter the outcome, I always give God the glory. I’m honored to represent USA this Summer,” said Harlow Ragsdale.
Faith is also an important component of Kendall Yeomans’s success. She dreams of one day being the feature twirler at UGA and the words that help her sustain that dream are in Phillippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Both mothers are very proud of their daughters. Danielle Yeomans is positive her daughter can achieve her dream, because she has achieved so many already.
“We are so proud of Kendall and so excited for this amazing opportunity. She has worked hard and set goals and dreams for herself since she started twirling,” she says. “Winning Nationals was one of her dreams and she accomplished that twice, going to Worlds and making Team USA was another and she just accomplished that.”
Haley Ragsdale is no less proud of her young athlete, saying, “I see all the hard work, literal blood, sweat, and tears that Harlow puts into this intense sport. She has made some sacrifices and to see all this pay off in a way that she can represent her country is incredibly inspiring. She puts God first in everything she does and is surrounded by love and support from her teammates and coaches. We are so proud of her. Go Team USA!”
Kendall Yeomans (above left) and Harlow Ragsdale (above right) of Pierce County are both headed to Italy as part of Team USA to compete in “the Olympics of baton twirling”.
