Former McKinney High School Drill Team Captain Selected To Famous Rangerettes

(Article and photo courtesy of Chris Beattie and Star Local Media.)

They say they’re the “pride of the pride, the best of the best” – they’re the McKinney Marquettes. And the McKinney High School drill team’s most recent leader is living up to that bidding. Abby Penprase, the team’s captain last year, will now dance with the famous Kilgore Rangerettes.

“Everyone in the dance or drill team world knows them. When she told me she made it, I cried,” said Addrianne Stephens, assistant director of the Marquettes. “It’s a huge deal.”

It must be: only 36 out of nearly 100 who tried out made the team. The Rangerettes perform at halftime of the Cotton Bowl and in televised Thanksgiving Day parades. They danced at the 2005 and 2009 U.S. presidential inaugurations.

They were the world’s first drill team, last year celebrating their 75th anniversary. About 74 freshmen and sophomores – the nation’s premier drill team performers – make up the Rangerettes.

“It’s kind of surreal right now,” Abby said. “Knowing that I’m part of something big and something that’s been around as long as it has been, it’s fun.”

When high school came around, drill team wasn’t even on Abby’s mind. Her mother, Amy Penprase, pushed her to get involved at McKinney High, and drill team seemed an ideal fit. Abby had danced since she was 5.

“I just thought she would really thrive under that environment,” her mother said. “She really found herself through the drill team.”

That she did, and the team along with her. The Marquettes won national titles her sophomore year, and she became lieutenant as a junior, when Stephens “could really tell she was coming into her own as a leader.” The captain spot was next.

“Abby has a wonderful work ethic,” said Amy Neely, director of the Marquettes. “She has tenacity. That’s high praise from a former Rangerette. Neely performed as one at a celebration in Singapore. Other Rangerette teams have dazzled in Venezuela, Romania, France and Ireland, according to the team’s website. They’ve been cover girls for hundreds of publications including Life, Newsweek, Esquire and Texas Monthly, and featured in the movie “Seven Wonders of the World.”

“Everyone in the dance or drill team world knows them,” Neely said. “It’s very prestigious.” In Neely’s time at McKinney High’s drill team helm, only two have become Rangerettes: Abby and Cera Taylor, Abby’s first lieutenant as a sophomore.

If there’s any time to feel ready for the next step, it’s now. The Marquettes this spring won four national titles in Fort Worth. It was Abby’s eighth competition with the McKinney team.

Each competition followed a demanding regiment. The Marquettes practice at 6:30 a.m. through first period, then officers continue into second period dance. Spring show season means morning-to-night Saturday practices with only lunch and dinner breaks.

That dedication, that passion, is what sets them apart, Abby said. “We definitely push ourselves,” she said of the team she’s now left behind. “We get our fun whenever we see how well we do in our performances.”

Drill team tradition isn’t lost on her, either. The Marquettes celebrated their 50th year in 2014-2015. Stephens talks of the team’s diversity – performers from varied backgrounds – and its affinity for hard work. Until recently, it started with whom she called their “servant leader.”

At least in Abby’s head, the Marquette mantra should continue as she becomes a Rangerette. After college, she plans to return to McKinney High. “It’d be a triumphant return to again lead the “pride of the pride.” I want to come back and be their third director,” Abby said. “They’ll probably need three by the time I get to that point in my life.”