The Winter Guard State Championship was held on Saturday, February 14, at Northern Illinois University. The team placed fourth in Open Flag and sixth in Lyrical.
The team appreciated the opportunity to compete at State.
“Qualifying for State involves achieving a certain score at the Sectional contest. Our Open Flag routine had already achieved this score,” said coach Sarah Schrader.
The team showed up with new and unique routines to present to the judges.
“Our Open Flag routine was ‘Rule the World’ and was a hodge-podge of dystopian societies. Our Lyrical Flag routine, ‘Beautiful Human,’ represents a girl’s internal struggle with being vulnerable in a relationship,” Schrader said.
Many of the performers enjoyed their new routines.
“Our routines were both awesome. One of them was dark and scary and the other was very pretty,” said senior Maggie Sawusch.
Many felt confident following their performance.
“During the performance, I felt powerful and just so happy,” Sawusch said.
At the end of the competition, the team was pleased with their routines.
“The team was confident
about Open Flag because they enjoyed performing a strong and confident routine,” said
junior Sydney Folger.
Winter Guard came into the event humble and left rewarded.
“We didn’t really expect anything; we just went in with an open mind and tried our very best,” Sawusch said.
The team is looking forward to additional opportunities and plans for the future.