ADAMS TWP — Four Mars School District girls will get a jump on Thanksgiving.

Eighth-grader Natalie Welsh, plus senior Maggie McKernan and her ninth-grade sisters, Cassie and Rachel, will perform a routine with a 200-member jump rope team at the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Nov. 28 in New York City.

The girls were chosen by the Heartbeats Jump Rope Team of Norton, Ohio, which was charged with putting together a multimember team by parade organizers.

The Heartbeats were interested in gathering only the top-caliber jumpers from across the U.S. to participate in the well-known parade, which will be televised on NBC on Thanksgiving Day.

Pam Best, a Mars physical education teacher and coach of the Mars Stars Jump Rope team, said she received the e-mail from Heartbeats asking her to choose her four top jumpers for inclusion on the Macy's team.

Best immediately decided on the McKernans and Welsh, who have taken the top prize in double-Dutch jumping in both of the last two years' AAU Junior Olympic Trials, held in Maryland and Ohio.

“They were also my oldest jumpers, and the most qualified at the time,” Best said.

The founder and coach of the Mars Stars can't wait to see her jumpers performing in the parade.

“It's awesome,” Best said. “It's such a cool experience for them to be able to do this.”

Best said she contacted the girls immediately and encouraged them to get in shape, as the parade route is 2.8 miles long.

Maggie McKernan said on Wednesday that the girls, all of whom have been Mars Stars since elementary school, took Best's advice and began practicing every Sunday.

She said Heartbeats named the Macy's team JUMP, for Jumpers United for Macy's Parade, and posted the routine on Youtube.com.

The 90-second routine includes jumping and non-jumping segments, Maggie said, and will be repeated over and over during the nearly three-mile parade route.

The girls since summertime have been practicing at the high school track, parking lot, or gym on inclement Sundays.

“It depends on what's available,” Maggie said.

She said the foursome knew the parade route was a long distance, and is compared to a marathon by those who have traversed it in the past.

“We were ready for that challenge, and we have taken it by the reins to prepare ourselves,” Maggie said. “I truly feel so honored to perform in the Macy's parade. It's the opportunity of a lifetime for us.”

Natalie Welsh said the practices have rendered the girls confident that they have the routine down pat and can perform it in unison without error.

“We have it pretty clean now,” Natalie said.

Having turned 13 in May, Natalie is one of the youngest athletes on the 13- to 25-year-old team.

“It's crazy because I'm going to be with college kids, and kids I've looked up to for my whole jumping career,” she said. “It's going to be really exciting.”

Maggie said the Mars group will head to New York City on Nov. 24, which will give them some time to be tourists before practice with the JUMP team commences on the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We want to see some historical sites, like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island,” Maggie said, “and we're going to see 'Matilda' on Broadway.”

Natalie hopes to visit Carlo's Bakery in nearby Hoboken, N.J., which is featured on “Cake Boss,” one of her favorite shows on the TLC network.

“And shopping in Times Square will be fun,” Natalie said.

Her mother, Jeannine Welsh, said regardless of the trip to New York City, the girls' experiences with jump rope has been all positive.

“These girls love it so much,” Welsh said. “It's fun competing, and it keeps them in good health.”