Newtown Color Guard Caps Strong Season At World Championships

By Andy Hutchison

There is a group of athletes in town that is among the most athletic and successful — not to mention colorful and entertaining — around. The participants are not usually (if ever) mentioned in the same breath with the basketball or football players. In fact, the program in which they participate is considered to be a part of the Newtown High School band program. But these students don’t play instruments as part of their competition.

They are The Newtown Winter Color Guard.

Much like gymnasts performing in the floor event, the guard members must show style and grace as they dance to music — all the while tossing various colored flags, or in some cases rifles and sabers, into the air. Timing, coordination, and a great deal of stamina are necessary to pull off an approximate four-and-a-half-minute routine in which the guard members go from sitting to standing to running to tossing and catching their props, hoping to perform mistake-free. Guard squads are judged similarly to gymnasts and cheerleaders.

Just as you might witness in the gymnasium for a basketball practice, the coaches of these students are instructing them and pushing them to perform at their best at each practice/rehearsal. It is not all fun and games and there is a lot of pressure on the participants to perform smoothly, if not flawlessly.

As it turns out, Newtown’s guard participants — from the youngest in town on up to the high schoolers — perform at a high level.

Newtown High School’s varsity squad’s nine members performed at the Dayton Winter Guard International World Championships in Ohio this past weekend. The team qualified after completing the campaign ranked 26th among 134 Scholastic National A guards. Newtown advanced the semifinal round of the competition.

The team won the Musical Arts Conference championship for the fifth year in a row and placed among the top five in three regional competitions during the season, which is what gained it the national ranking. Newtown’s varsity squad was also crowned the South-West Conference champions.

Newtown’s varsity team is comprised solely of girls — although boys have participated in years past.

The varsity squad chose to perform to the music “Drailion” from Cirque du Soliel. The show title was called “A Journey to a World of Destiny,” chosen by the girls to reflect the “journey” of the season.

Not only did the varsity guard have a season to remember, but Newtown’s AAA team, comprised of seventh-, eighth- and some ninth-graders, also came in first at the Musical Arts Conference competition. The fifth- and sixth-grade squad, made up of 15 members — 13 of whom were new to the program this year — came in second at its level. This, the youngest squad, is also called the Junior Guard.

Varsity senior captain Carra Buckley, in her seventh year as a guard member, got to make the trip to Dayton for the third time. Not only is Buckley a key component of the varsity squad, she helps coach each of the younger teams in town.

“It’s very exciting to teach — especially when you get a win out of the girls you teach,” Buckley said during a recent varsity practice at Reed Intermediate School.

Kristen Fetchick, the other captain, is also a seven-year member of the program and has been on the varsity squad for five years. She attributes the program’s strong success to the coaching staff that has been in place for the last handful of years.

Bob Findley is the drill writer; Helen Woods is the head coach and choreographer; and Alissa Belcher and Cathy Brauer are assistant coaches. NHS Director of the Bands Kurt Eckhardt oversees the staff.

“Each year you learn to make yourself better and grow with the same group of people,” Fetchick said.

Junior Leigh Snellback also helps coach some of the up-and-coming guard members. The rest of the team is comprised of junior Melissa Tolson; sophomore Amanda Kovatch; and freshmen Melissa Charles, Olivia DeWald, Nicole Scalora, and Sarah Smith.

Woods was impressed with how the varsity team performed throughout the winter campaign. “I am very proud of them. It was a long season and the nine girls that I had really kept things together,” she said.

The members of the AAA Guard are as follows: Brianna Bauch, Cherokee Belvel, Victoria Braga, Brandon Ghent, Victoria Haniluk, Sara Hetzer, Grace Hubbard, Samantha Mancini, Marissa Metcalf, Kelsey Rahmlow, Milly Ritter and Alyssa Wade.

Members of the Junior Guard are: Portia Baudisch, Sarah Braga, Emma Burns, Courtney Datin, Emma deFlumeri, Charlotte Gray, Maddie Hintzen, Faith Periera, Molly LaPak, Kelsea Morshuk, Allyson Montague,  Hannah Schwartz, Emily Sippin, Paige Thanasoulis and Abbie Winters.