Three sisters, three different schools, one title: Queen

By Andrew Dys - adys@heraldonline.com

Shawana Burris was no shoo-in to win 2009 homecoming queen at Rock Hill's South Pointe High School. But maybe she should have been.

Sure, Shawana is senior class president and president of the student council. She takes advanced classes and is in the prestigious Beta Club. But 19 other girls were vying to win. She had to go through a tough campaign at the school, make posters and more.

“This was like a political campaign,” she said. “It was tough.”

There were interviews with administrators and teachers and votes from the school staff and student body to even have a chance win. The competition was fierce.

“I was nervous, and so many other girls had a chance,” Shawana said.

But maybe all should have known Shawana would take home the title. An older sister, Twana N. Burris, was crowned Rock Hill High School's homecoming queen in 1994. And the oldest of Donald Burris's three daughters, Sheena Harris, won Fort Mill High's homecoming queen contest in 1991.

“If there is another family of three sisters who won homecoming queen at three different schools at three different times, I sure never heard of it,” said Donald Burris. “It shows they had the respect of their peers at school, and earned their place as queen. I'm proud of all their accomplishments, and homecoming queen is another stepping stone.”

It might be a first anywhere, three sisters from three different schools in three different years winning the coveted homecoming queen crown. But these ladies expect to achieve.

In 1991, Sheena was a cheerleader, star student, a member of the yearbook staff and more at Fort Mill High. The race for homecoming queen was fierce.

“The year before I won, I was runner-up,” Sheena said. “That just made me want to excel even more. In my family, we have always been about doing the best we can.”

In 1994, at Rock Hill High, Twana was student body vice president, an athlete on the track team and an honor student taking the toughest courses offered. Although she attended a different high school than her sister had a few years earlier, Twana wanted to make her own mark as queen at Rock Hill High.

“I looked at it as doing my very best in that competition just like I did in everything then, and still do,” Twana said. “It was about character and leadership and achievement. Those qualities of being a leader never change.”

Twana knows all about achievement and character and setting out to accomplish what you start. She went to the University of South Carolina, then law school at Ohio State. She's a former prosecutor who operates her own law firm in Rock Hill.

And when it came time for homecoming night two weeks ago, she was her younger sister's biggest supporter. To try to quiet Shawana's nerves — Shawana admitted “there was some pressure when your two sisters have already won homecoming queen, and you want it, too,” — Twana sent her a text message about doing her best that said: “You already won.”

On that Friday night a couple weeks ago, Carolyn and Donald Burris cheered loudly for their daughter, Shawana, as the 20 girls strode onto the field hoping to win. And like always, one of the sisters won.

Even though their victories were long ago, both Sheena and Twana kept their sashes and crowns. Now, Shawana has her own to keep forever, too.

“The way I look at it, they mixed the cake and baked the cake, and my win is like the icing on the cake,” Shawana said. “It's a sister thing for all of us now. Homecoming Queen.”