Baton twirling, per the World Baton Twirling Federation, is defined as the “manipulation of a metal rod and the performer’s body to a coordinated program of skills set to music.” Considered a sport by the organization, the discipline is an artistic incorporation of dance, acrobatics, and gymnastics that all come together in “dexterity, smoothness, fluidity, and speed,” says the site.
Since The Marching Virginians’ inception in the early 1970s, feature twirlers have been a mainstay in the halftime performances at Lane Stadium. Thrilling the audience with dazzling tricks is part of the job description, and it goes without saying that the role is easily one of the most technically demanding in the entire ensemble.
With its high-flying tosses and jaw-dropping routines, twirling would be practically impossible for the average person to do well. For incoming freshman Jaylyn Resh, however, twirling is a passion that she can’t wait to display at the collegiate level. I had a chance to interview Resh as she enters not only her first year of college at Virginia Tech, but her first year as the Feature Twirler for the 2025-26 iteration of The Marching Virginians.
Resh hails from Pennsylvania and joins the MVs after twirling for nearly her whole life. Inspired by her mother, who twirled in high school, Resh first found the baton at just four years old and has loved the practice since.
“My mom was a twirler in her band. She wasn’t as into it as I am, but she just wanted her kid to do the same thing that she did,” the twirler reflected.
Resh shines in an evening Band Camp session. Taken by Taylor Harrison, Online Content Officer
Becoming more involved as time progressed, Resh found herself in the middle of the uber-intense competitive twirling scene, an arena that focuses largely on technical skill over the flashiness of a performance. It’s more trick-focused, Resh told me, than moving around the field.
“[Twirling competitively] is really different from twirling on a field. You do a lot more challenging tricks, [and] you’re not really moving all over like on the field,” said Resh. “You’re at a standstill...there are a lot of competitions, and the season never really stops.”
Resh isn’t kidding, either: The year-round affair is punctuated by a nationwide competition, the 2025 tournament taking place at the University of Notre Dame’s campus earlier this summer. After the tournament concludes, said Resh, a two-month break is the only real downtime she gets before ramping up her training schedule for the next year’s showcase.
Resh’s practice regimen is also nothing to balk at. In seasons where she vies for the top spot at the national level, she’ll spend hours sharpening the skills that have already taken her to new heights.
“Whenever I go to the gym to practice, it’s about an hour and a half to two hours of practice per day,” said Resh. “[It’s] making sure you’re keeping everything up.”
Generally, a training session will consist of repeated tricks that she knows will be included in a future performance, says Resh. High toss tricks, as they’re called, often make up a majority of the routine, and they serve as the moments “where you can take a minute to smile at the audience, or just have a moment to breathe.” Striking a balance between the sparking high toss tricks and the more impressive, technical displays is key, she told me: “You want to make sure it’s [the routine] is packed full of impressive things that are going to draw the audience in to watch you.”
Outside of the competitive sphere, Resh was also a feature twirler for her high school’s marching band. When asked what she’s most excited for when joining the MVs, her answer was simple: Illuminating the night sky with a fiery baton.
“Fire was my favorite part of high school band,” said Resh. “I’m really looking forward to twirling fire at the night games.”
In the winding journey that has been Resh’s twirling career, there have been signature moments that made the incoming freshman realize her dream of performing at the collegiate level. Most notably, it’s the yearly experience of seeing twirlers from across the nation at the same National Baton Twirling Association (NBTA) competition at Notre Dame.
“Obviously, I have never participated in the event before, but you sit in the stands and watch all these incredible feature twirlers from all these universities perform,” reflected Resh. “They have fun music from the band, and it’s such an encouraging moment to watch and think, ‘That could be me.’”
Now entering into her first season as the Feature Twirler for The Marching Virginians, it’s not just about the tricks and spins for the freshman. It’s about making people realize, she said, that twirling deserves just as much attention and respect as any other sport or discipline.
“I feel like, to a lot of people, they don’t know a lot about baton,” asserted Resh. “I definitely think that baton twirling needs to be brought to light, [in that] it’s difficult and you need to practice multiple hours every day. I’m hoping that, as the Feature Twirler at Virginia Tech, I can do lots of performances to make the public aware of it.”