Mandi Patrick recruits as well as she twirls.
While working her baton magic with the Marching Illini back in the day, the popular Patrick connected with 7-year-old Chase Dorn, inviting the tyke on to the field at Memorial Stadium. It was then that Patrick told Dorn that Illinois was the only place to be if she wanted to twirl in college.
"First words I remember her telling me was Muck Fichigan," Dorn said. "As a 7-year-old, that made a big impression."
Today, Dorn is an 18-year-old, highly decorated freshman twirler with the Marching Illini. Patrick is a recently married 35-year-old living and working in Chicago.