Shawnee grad twirls around the world

LIMA — At nearly 6 feet in height, Abbigail Cole does indeed stand out in a crowd. Put a baton in her hand and the 18-year-old Lima resident soars to even greater heights.

Cole, a 2023 graduate of Shawnee High School, is the reigning 2024 Miss Majorette of the Great Lakes region and, as such, competed at the University of Notre Dame in the Miss Majorette of America event earlier this year. She has taken part in international twirling competitions on two continents and will travel to Turin, Italy, next year to take part in the 2025 World Twirling Competition as a member of the America’s Youth on Parade team.

When not holding a baton, Abbigail is preparing for her sophomore year at the University of Findlay, where she is pursuing a doctorate degree in pharmacology. An honor roll student with a 3.96 grade point average, Cole is one of four featured twirlers on the U of F baton corps and is currently practicing for the Oilers’ season gridiron opener on Sept. 7 while also working as a technician at a Findlay pharmacy “just for the experience.”

Changes in latitude

After spending her early years in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Abbigail moved with parents, Drs. William and Colleen Cole, to Lima in 2018. Around that same time she got interested in baton twirling. “It’s very exhilarating and it keeps me active,” she said. During her high school years Cole joined the Jazz Dolls, a troupe based in Canton that is widely recognized in twirling circles.

“Canton is like a twirling factory and the Jazz Dolls have been national champs. I wanted to be part of that,” Cole recalled during an interview earlier this week. “During my senior year we made the three-hour drive to Canton (for practice) every weekend. Then during the summer I moved there and lived with my coach.”

During those summer months Cole would participate in team practice from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., then work one-on-one with her coach for another four hours. The hard work paid off when the Jazz Dolls competed in the Netherlands in 2022 and in Liverpool, England, in 2023, bringing home silver and gold medals, respectively.

This summer the team won the right to take part in next year’s international competition in Italy.

“I love this team. This was my third year with them and it’s been an awesome experience,” Abbigail said. “To be a twirler you need a lot of endurance and perseverance. Twirling is a combination of gymnastics and dancing … with a baton. I’ve seen girls get concussions, break bones; I got a black eye recently when I was struck by a baton. But I love it. I think twirling makes you a stronger, more capable person.”

Among Cole’s other accomplishments are a third-place finish in the U.S. Twirling Association’s 2024 Athlete of the Year competition and first-place in the USTA’s intermediate solo and two-baton finals.

The sport can get costly, Cole conceded, when travel and costume costs are factored in. “You need different costumes for different events and some of those can run upwards of $1,000, depending on how many rhinestones there are.”

‘Always stay positive’

In Cole’s eyes the experiences and accomplishments she has achieved in twirling have been priceless, allowing her to meet athletes from many countries. During competition in England she bonded with the team from Japan, trading souvenir pins as a sign of friendship. “The Japanese twirlers are so amazing; they really push themselves,” she said.

Cole is soaking in all her past experiences as she eyes even more adventures in twirling competitions here and abroad.

“Winning Miss Majorette Great Lakes was my first title and it was a huge deal for me,” Cole continued. “To young twirlers, I would say the most important thing to remember as you pursue your passion is to have fun. When you truly love the sport and have fun, that’s when you excel. Always stay positive.”