Winterguard is off to a winning start this 08 season.

“The first competitions started off rough but as the season went on and we got more experience, we kept getting better,” Senior Sarah Maxey said. “We have already beaten the highest score we got all season last year.”

This year’s show is called “Happiness Is…” and is performed to Jennifer Lopez’s song “Alive.” This years show was created by North’s Winter and Colorguard instructor Duane Williams.

“I first picked the piece of music which I thought was a beautiful piece and the kids could handle well,” Williams said. “Then, the theme just comes from the lyrics.”

The guard still has three competitions. Their final competition is World Championships on April 10 in Dayton, Ohio.

On the first of this month, the guard participated at the WGI Regional competition in Kansas City. They placed sixth with a score of 78.2. That is the highest score winterguard has gotten in years.

“I’m most excited about how the kids have progressed and grown this year,” Williams said. “I’m not really nervous at all. The kids are doing a great job, there’s no reason to be nervous.”

The WGI Regional in Kansas City was not the first WGI regional that the Guard took part in this year. The Guard also competed in another WGI regional in Nashville Tennessee where they placed fourth and received the score of 75.4.

WGI is the worldwide Winterguard competitive circuit.
“The judging is equally as hard in guard as in drumline,” Senior Courtney Boudreau, member of Winterguard and previous member of Winter Drumline said. “The competition is still as stressful, I mean you are still working just as hard to make it to the top. In Drumline we have made it to finals and guard hasn’t, so guard may be a little harder than drumline as far as scoring goes.”

North’s Guard has earned much respect throughout the MCCGA circuit by starting out in Scholastic B and being promoted to Scholastic A. They are the first in the circuit to be advanced like this.The promotion process involves a panel of judges voting through the top guards.

This past weekend, the guard participated in a competition at O’Fallon Township in Il. They placed first with a score of 80.3.

This is the largest Winterguard that Williams had taught with a total of seventeen members. This year, the guard is better off because they have four seniors when last year they didn’t have any, more seniors allows for stong leadership. Since this season is going so well, the seniors are hesitant about leaving.

“Out of the three seasons [I’ve been a member], this is the best,” Maxey said. “It’s definitely the people who have made it the best. I’m going to miss it.”