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Twirling Two Batons Half-time - Men's CSU Basketball, 1979 |
Ann Durkin
Ann began twirling when she was only seven years old. She twirled recreationally until the age of thirteen and then started with her coach Linda Schick. When Ann was 14 she entered her first NBTA contest. By age 16 she was the intermediate state solo champion and by age 18 she was one of the top advanced twirlers in the state of Colorado.Ann has always loved teaching others to twirl. She began teaching for the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Department when she was only seventeen. She attended Ottawa University in Ottawa, KS where she twirled at football games even though the school did not have a marching band. Two years later she transfered to Colorado State University and became one of their twirlers. While in college she continued to teach both in Fort Collins and Kansas.
After graduation she taught elementary school in Lawrence, Kansas and founded Ann's All-Stars. She became a NBTA judge in 1985. Her students in Kansas captured state dance twirl team titles. Her individual students held many beginning and intermediate state titles and were just beginning to compete at the advanced level when Ann took a job with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The two years Ann spent in Maryland are the only years she was not involved with twirling. While at Johns Hopkins Ann traveled all over the United States and South America training teachers how to increase student academic achievement.
In 1991, Ann Durkin and her husband, Scott, returned to Fort Collins. Ann became involved with twirling again as a judge and then an instructor. She currently has over a dozen students who compete in contests in Colorado and elsewhere, march in parades, perform for charity events and, in general, have a great time with baton twirling.
In 1996 Ann's daughter, Sydney, was born. Sydney marched in her first parade when she was only two years old. Sydney enjoys twirling, but also likes other activities such as swimming, martial arts, reading and web design on the Internet.
