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South County High School junior Mary Moore may be quiet and academically focused in the classroom, but at home football games, the 17-year-old becomes one of the school’s most distinctive performers.

Wearing a sparkling costume, Moore executes spins, high throws and behind-the-back catches alongside the marching band. Principal Kambar Khoshaba described the change as dramatic.

“When she steps onto the field, she transforms into this major athlete,” Khoshaba said. “She’ll throw the baton really high in the air, she does all these spins, and then she catches it behind her.”

Moore’s connection to baton twirling began long before high school. Her mother, grandmother and aunt all participated in the sport, and Moore attended her first lesson at age 3.

“My mom just thought, ‘Might as well bring her to a baton lesson,’” Moore said. “And so I went, and I just fell in love with it.”

Years of training eventually took her to the highest levels of competition. Moore became the top-ranked U.S. baton twirler in her age group and qualified for Team USA five times. She competed at four world championships, traveling to Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Reaching that level requires an average of 20 hours of gym practice each week. The physical and mental strain caught up with Moore last year, when she qualified for six Team USA events—more than anyone else on the team—but experienced unusual anxiety and stress.

Although she had earned a place at a summer competition in Italy, Moore decided she was not in the right mental condition to attend. Entering the gym, normally a place she loved, had begun to feel overwhelming.

For the first time since she started twirling, Moore stepped away. With help from her family and a counselor, she spent more time with relatives and explored other hobbies until she felt prepared to return.

The experience taught her that achievement should not come at the expense of well-being.

“When you’re under super high pressure, it’s important for you to put your physical health, your mental health, just your body before everything else,” Moore said.

Summer band camp helped ease her return by giving her a supportive place to perform without the pressure of direct competition. With the South County marching band, she could focus again on why she enjoyed twirling.

“That was a really good thing that helped me get back into baton because I love twirling with the marching band,” she said. “It’s just me performing, not competing with other people.”

Moore now appears at every South County home football game. The band and color guard directors give her space to move around the field and develop her own choreography, an experience she hopes will prepare her to join a college marching band.

She also wants her performances to bring joy to spectators and become part of what people remember about South County.

“You add another layer of culture to our school that nobody else can add,” Khoshaba told her. “There are 2,200 students here, and you’re the only one who is performing the twirling.”