Cheyenne Burd and Madelaine Schmidt, members of the baton twirling program at Westminster's City Park Recreation Center, won several awards at the U.S. National Baton Twirling Championships Festival of the Future, July 18 in Tucson, Arizona. Nearly 600 athletes from 21 states competed in the championships, which were sponsored by the U.S. Twirling Association.

Schmidt, 10, won first place in Beginning Solo, topping 22 other athletes. She also earned first place in Beginning Military Strut and second place in Beginning Presentation. Burd, 13, earned top honors in Intermediate Basic Strut and third place in Intermediate Military.

Burd and Schmidt are members of the Colorado Twirls Dance Twirl Team, which earned third place in the Beginning Juvenile Small Dance Twirl Team Division. They beat out teams from Arizona, California and Washington to take third place.

Burd is an eighth-grader at Crowne Pointe Academy. She enjoys spending time with friends and babysitting. She is the daughter of Lori Walker.

Schmidt is a fifth-grader at Jefferson Academy. In addition to twirling, she plays the saxophone and participates in soccer and softball. She is the daughter of Mike and Becky Schmidt.

A new session of baton twirling classes, under the direction of coach Cheryl Osborn, begins in September at Westminster's City Park Recreation Center. For more information or to register for the class, call 303-460-9690. For more information about the sport of baton twirling, visit www.coloradotwirls.com.

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