April 13, 2009
Golden Girl earns bronze medal in World Twirling Championships
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
The freshman from Roselle, Ill., who twirled to a medley of Madonna's "Material Girl" and Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," is slated to return to campus late Monday (April 13) following a week of competition in Europe.
"Merriebeth's commitment to excellence has allowed her to achieve this monumental goal," said Jay Gephart, director of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band. "She is a wonderful ambassador for Purdue and has set a new standard for our Golden Girl twirling position. We are extremely proud of her."
In preparation for Sunday's solo twirler finale, the field of competing twirlers was cut to six on Saturday (April 11).
Alisha Kuckartz, who coaches the twirlers as auxiliary director for the "All-American" Marching Band, said making the top six was Cox's personal goal before leaving.
Being selected to be part of Team USA also was an honor in itself, Kuckartz said.
"Each country takes their top three competitors to the world's, so that was huge for Merriebeth and Purdue," she said.
Attending the World Championships meant Cox had to audition to keep her position as Golden Girl prior to the official solo twirler tryouts held on April 4. She was a unanimous choice to retain her title as Purdue's 27th Golden Girl. Cox first topped all competitors as an incoming student to earn the Golden Girl title in 2008.
Writer: Christy Jones, 765-494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu
Source: Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands public relations director, 765-496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
To the News Service home page