Over 200 students play in the Keith Stein Blue Thunder Marching Band. The Boise State football team boasts a roster of over 100. The color guard stands small and mighty at around 20 members. But at Broncos games, you’ll also spot a highly specialized team of one: Boise State’s feature baton twirler, Claire Warner.
‘You can’t disengage for half a second’
What’s it like to be the Broncos’ only twirler? Warner says her role combines the camaraderie of the marching band with the freedom of choosing her own costumes and routine.
“I don’t have a coach here, so anything that I do on the field is all choreographed by me,” Warner said.
Twirling also has its challenges. According to Warner, the sport is more mental than physical. “You have an entire stadium of a million things happening around you,” she explained, “but you have to be focusing on what you’re doing. You can’t disengage for half a second.”
Much of her practice, she said, involves visualization.
“I’ll close my eyes, and I’ll listen to the music and picture exactly what [the stadium] looks like. What are the fans wearing? Is it a ‘blue out’ game? Is it going to be cold? I try to put myself in that position and just get mental reps over and over.”
A childhood dream, years of training
Warner also has over a decade of baton twirling experience behind her. Growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, her family often attended Arizona State University football games. Warner was always enchanted by the marching band, the cheerleaders and especially the baton twirlers. According to her parents, a five-year-old Warner pointed to the twirlers at one game and said, “I want to do that when I’m in college.”
“So we walked up to one of the twirlers, asked if she could show me a few tricks, and I started taking lessons,” Warner said.
Warner continued lessons for years, competing at the regional and national levels in the United States Twirling Association circuit.
From bleachers to Blue Turf
When it came time to choose a college, Warner knew that twirling would be a considerable part of her choice. Boise State caught her eye — the previous feature twirler was about to graduate, so the marching band’s sole baton twirling spot was about to open up.
Warner visited Boise State, including the Blue Thunder Marching Band, and felt at home right away.
“If I was going to be moving away from what I knew my whole entire life and jumping into something new, I wanted it to feel like I belonged,” Warner said. “And you could feel that energy when you walked into the band room. Everyone’s here for each other, and everyone’s here for one common goal.”
Warner auditioned for the twirling spot via video, performing her own choreography. Director of Athletic Bands Joe Tornello said that Warner’s technical skillset, as well as her timing with the music, made her audition stand out.
“If you’re doing a toss at a spot that doesn’t feel like a climax, or something that’s energetic or a full ensemble release, it doesn’t really make sense,” Tornello said. “We want [the baton twirler] to be coordinated with the music, the same way like we want the formations that the band does to make sense with the music. Claire’s choreography has always done that.”
Accounting for success
As a student at Boise State, Warner balances twirling with a double major in accounting and information technology management. This is no small feat. The feature twirler is expected to attend all marching band practices, as well as color guard sectional rehearsals — Warner often coordinates with the color guard and, if the guard is doing pair work and has an odd number, fills in the gap.
With her intense rehearsal and academic schedules, Tornello said, Warner achieves what many students believe is impossible.
“A lot of students think, ‘I’m not going to do marching band, I can’t do all that,'” Tornello said. “But there are students who are successful at both [academics and band]. When you put your mind to it, and you’re dedicating time appropriately, you can do it.”
The challenge is worth it for Warner. She loves math and describes her information technology courses as “really fun.” After her graduation in May 2027, she is considering becoming a Certified Public Accountant. She added that she is only applying to jobs in Boise.
“I definitely want to stay,” Warner said. “I can’t imagine my life without Boise State football, the marching band and being here in the fall.”