Nokesville teen twirls way to top

Earlier this spring, Priscilla Gillis won the Beginning Junior "2009 Miss Majorette of Virginia" competition in Newport News.

That allowed the 15-year-old Brentsville District High School student to compete at the University of Notre Dame recently, representing the state in the national finals of this year's Miss Majorette of America contest.

It was a rewarding experience. Priscilla came home with three Notre Dame "Oscar" trophies and two neck medallions.

She won first place in open world beginning solo and was named Beginning Junior Miss Majorette of America solo champion. She also was first runner-up in the Beginning Junior Miss Majorette of America overall competition.

Priscilla led Virginia to second place in the national competition, behind only Pennsylvania and ahead of California, New York and Maryland.

The Miss Majorette of America Contest is just like the "Miss America" contest in which the results of three events are averaged so a winner can be named. In Miss Majorette of America, the girls twirl one baton solo, model with an interview and do a dance/strut.

"I was very excited and pleased with my performance," Priscilla said. "I had hoped to finish in the top 10, but to come in second was 'Wow!'"

A majorette has to win a state or regional contest to compete in the national event. Priscilla competed in the beginner 13 to 15 age group.

"I was really happy to be representing the state of Virginia in the national contest," said Priscilla, who traveled with her mother, Sandra Gillis, to South Bend, Ind.

During the week, Priscilla went head-to-head with about 50 other contestants in modeling, interviews and solo twirling.

The feature twirler for the Brentsville Marching Band, Priscilla will be a sophomore this school year.

She practices two to three hours per day, and during the past four years, she has won more than 150 trophies, competing throughout the area.

She will also perform at halftime at football games at East Carolina University and the University of Virginia in the fall. She is known for twirling two fire batons on the gridiron.

"I'm really proud of her accomplishments," Sandra Gillis said. "Winning the state contest and finishing second in the nationals is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The experience is something she will never forget. All of her hard work of practicing for hours on end and the long hours of twirling lessons with her coaches has paid off."

Priscilla is taught by Shelvy Manning of Newport News and by Danielle VanScoyk, the feature twirler at the University of Maryland and the 2008 Teenage Miss Majorette of America.

She hopes to get a baton twirling college scholarship and to study to become a fashion de-signer.

Priscilla said winning the state contest was especially exciting because she won the contest on May 9, the day before her birthday.

"It was the best birthday present I could ever get," she said. She finished second in both of the previous two years.

Staff writer Bennie Scarton Jr. can be reached at 703-369-6707.