The three Newtown Winter Guard divisions, comprised of fifth and sixth grade juniors from Reed Intermediate School, the Newtown Middle School and Newtown High School junior varsity, and Newtown High School’s varsity guard, kicked off the 2015 Musical Arts Conference (MAC) winter guard season with strong performances at Masuk High School in Monroe on Saturday, February 7, for the Masuk Classic event.

The juniors took home the first place trophy, besting second place Bethel juniors by nearly 6 full points. Scoring a 57 to Bethel’s 51.1, the eight-girl unit was thrilled to defeat the much larger Bethel team with their performance of “Winter Playground.”

The juniors are coached by Newtown Guard instructor Bob Findley, along with varsity guard members Nina Bonvini and Makenzie Casey. The Newtown juniors are Katie Farrington, Mia Hochstetler, Maggie LaBanca, Allison Pavlicek, Noelle Salley, Elle Sferruzzo, Kaylee Timmons, and Lianna Vinhaus.

In a field of six varsity guards from high schools in Connecticut and New York, the Newtown junior varsity scored 58.82 and came in fourth place in the Scholastic AA division, narrowly missing third by.37 points, and second place by 1.54. Winner Naugatuck scored a 62.09, 3.27 points higher than Newtown.

Also coached by Mr Findley as well as Janos Pergely and varsity guard members Kayleigh Granville and Kelsea Morshuk-Allen, the junior varsity’s show is called “Tornado Warning,” and tells the story of recovering from natural disaster with grace and hope.

The 23-member team has six seventh graders, nine eighth graders, six freshmen, and two sophomores. Saturday was the very first guard competition or five of the members, prompting Kelsea to say, “This is a young and somewhat inexperienced guard, so we are excited at how well they performed, and how much potential they have.”

The Newtown varsity guard took home the second place trophy on Saturday after performing their exciting show “Blu,” which features a dramatic dance opening, flag and sabre work, and a section where all 18 members are spinning rifles.

Mr Findley told his guard that he was very pleased with their initial performance and looking forward to adding more elements to the performance as they continue to battle Norwalk High School in the Scholastic Open Division.

“This was a really good start to our season. I am so proud of the varsity, and every single one of the 49 Newtown Winter Guard members,” he said.

Nest Saturday, February 14, varsity travels to Salem, Mass., for the first Winter Guard International (WGI) Regional competition on the road to the WGI Championships in Dayton, Ohio, in April.

All three Newtown guards will be back in MAC competition on Saturday, February 21, at Bethel High School. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and students.