Winter guard hit new heights at the Winterguard International Southwest Power Regional Finals at University of North Texas Saturday and Sunday, qualifying as a finalist for the first time in the contest.
“Advancing to finals simply means that their score was high enough to allow them to advance and give them the opportunity to perform a second time,” color guard director Eric Mills said. “Not only do they have to earn a high score for their performance, but their score has to be higher than quite a few other schools in order for them to advance. Needless to say, it is a big accomplishment.”
For senior Shriya Vedula, her favorite part of the contest was not only getting the chance to perform in front of a large audience but to watch other schools’ performances.
“My favorite part was definitely the feeling of performing in such a large stadium and getting to watch the coolest groups afterwards,” Vedula said. “It was so fun to showcase our hard work and see the hard work that others had put in as well.”
From in class to after school practice, winter guard has been diligently preparing for this contest.
“We worked really hard during the week leading up to it, with a big rehearsal that helped us get consistent and confident in ourselves as we performed our show,” Vedula said.
Even though the team advanced to the finals, their success wasn’t as eminent from the beginning.
“I honestly wasn’t sure how they would handle the pressure of performing under those circumstances, but they rose to the occasion,” Mills said. “I’ll admit I’m always a little nervous going into performances, but we do our best to be as prepared as possible, and fortunately it paid off.”
Mills hopes winter guard’s success in the competition will be beneficial in recruiting more members for the team.
“In my experience, students generally want to invest their time in activities that they perceive to be successful, so being competitively successful will definitely help with recruiting,” Mills said. “That being said, I believe that the confidence the current members gained this weekend will allow them to be the best advocates and recruiters for future members, which in the past has been a major factor in the growth of the program.”
