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media by photo courtesy of Trevor McLaine

The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”

Bright lights. Loud cheers. It’s the last performance of the season, State Finals. You’ve given it everything you’ve got and now it’s the celebration. 

You’re already in character when you hear the folksy strums of an acoustic guitar echoing through an arena. That’s when your four-and-a-half-minute performance starts. Some of your friends are doing an improvised dance, others a coordinated handshake. 

You hear your team name announced and the music changes to Barnes Country’s “Glitter and Gold.” That was the experience of the winter guard team on March 30. 

“[That feeling before you go on is] mostly a bundle of nerves,” Romi Gupta ‘28 said. “I’m excited to go out there and give it my all, but I’m also concerned about how the performance would be altogether and how it would all work out.”

March 29 and 30 were their State Preliminary and Finals championships. At last year’s State Championships, the team won first place, which led to them moving up a class. The Rocky Mountain Color Guard Association (RMCGA) website explains the differences between the classes. The team went from Scholastic Regional A (SRA) to Scholastic AA (SAA). This led to the shows needing more character, and it would need to be four to five minutes long instead of three minutes long.

“⁠It was very fulfilling to see our effort from last year being recognized by moving up a class, but it definitely made this year a lot more challenging. I think it ultimately made our guard so much better because it challenged us to learn and improve upon skills that weren’t assessed in the lower class,” Ella West ‘25 said.

The 20 members, ranging from freshmen to seniors, were led by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Ogren. They started their season with an informational meeting Nov. 15, proceeded by training camps Nov. 19, Nov. 21 and Nov. 23. These students start with varying skill levels, but basics were taught for the first few weeks before learning drill or choreography.

“My favorite part [of color guard] is the people and the community, it’s a really great group,” Ava Delp ‘27 said.

The team had a total of eight performances, the first one being their Evaluations performance at Widefield High School on Jan. 15. Evaluations is where teams meet the judges. It is primarily to see if the coaches have the show going in a good direction. 

“My favorite part of guard is learning new tricks and challenging myself,” Delilah Strickland ‘27 said. “It makes it super fun.”

Their next performances were competitions. Their first real competition was at Prairie View High School. The team won first place and got a score of 60.320. 

Their next competition was at Mountain Range High School. The team got fourth place with a score of 61.070.

“My favorite competition was Legacy, mostly because I got to do a retreat,” Gupta said.

For the next two weeks they had a competition break. This meant that on Saturdays they had practices, as well as Tuesday and Thursdays. They had a competition on March 1 held at Legacy High School. The team got fourth place and got a score of 69.430.

“Practices are entertaining and very physically demanding,” Stickland said. “We work very hard to get to where we are and it plays off in the end. [Practices] can be a lot, but it’s a good team so it’s always a good time.”

On March 8, the team performed at the Anesidora Friends and Family Show. This is a performance for teams to present their show to other teams. It was hosted by the Anesidora group and was not judged.

“⁠My least favorite part was the 5 hour rehearsal, especially because I had another 1 hour class after that,” Gupta said.

During Spring break there was an all-day practice. March 22 was a competition held at Columbine High School. This was their last competition before their state championships. The team won second place and got a score of 75.180.

“[Saturday’s retreat] was very stressful, especially since the scores in our division have been so tight this year, I had no idea what to expect. It was so relieving to find out we made it into finals and had another shot to perform,” West said.

March 29 was the State Preliminaries competition held at the Denver Coliseum. In the SAA class there were nine teams. The winter guard team won fifth place with a score of 76.150 and made it to finals.

“⁠[At state,] I was very emotional knowing that it would be my last time performing with these specific people, but I was very excited to show off all the hard work we’ve been putting in this season for the last time,” Ella West ‘25.

The State Finals competition was held at the same place on March 30. The team won fifth place again with a score of 77.565. This was the first year that there was a Preliminary and Finals competition. The top five winners in the SAA class made it to finals.