Kenzie James
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Three Lafayette High School (LHS) alumni joined the University of Florida (UF) Gatorettes and will be marching with the Gator Marching Band in the upcoming season.
Logan Lents, Mia Braswell and Addison Byrd were majorettes with the LHS Marching Hornets, and all auditioned and made the Gatorettes, UF's majorettes team, for the 2024-25 season.
"I decided to audition for the Gatorettes because many former Lafayette twirlers and band members that I admired were part of the Gator Band during their time in college. It instantly sparked interest," Lents said.
Lents graduated from LHS in May of 2023 but didn't make Gatorettes her first year at UF due to a serious foot injury she sustained months prior. She said she was able to prepare for her audition more this year, starting months ahead of the audition.
"I was more nervous this year because I know the feeling of rejection, and I did not want to experience that again," Lents said. "Opening the acceptance letter was one of the most rewarding feelings I had ever had."
The Gatorettes audition has two parts: the required skills and fundamentals and the prepared routine. For the required skills, three to four girls go into a room together, and the judges call out a list of skills for them to demonstrate. Each girl performs the skills individually, then performs a 16-by-16 marching square to the UF fight song. Gatorette captain Liz Stoeber said this marching square was to make sure the girls could hear and count the music, stay in step, and adapt to the high-step marching style of the band. The girls who advance to the next portion perform their prepared routines. Weeks or months before audition day, the auditioning girls prepare and practice a two to three-minute routine that includes all the required skills from the previous section of the audition.
"My freshman year, the audition was in May, and I had [my routine] prepared the October before," Stoeber said. "You have to make it as perfect as you can."
The Gatorettes perform as part of the Gator Marching Band during football season. After the football season ends, the Gatorettes will start their spring competition season, traveling to perform and recruit twirlers at competitions around the state and later the national competitions in the summer.
The 2024-2025 Gatorettes team has 18 girls, nine of whom are new members.
"I am really looking forward to working with all of the new girls. That's my favorite part of it, and watching them experience what I've been loving the past five years of doing this," Stoeber said. "There's nothing like stepping on the football field for the first time; nothing can compare to walking the Swamp with the whole band behind you."