Winter Guard Performs At International Competition

At their first Winter Guard International competition of the season held at Trumbull High School Saturday, February 11, the Newtown High School Varsity Winter Guard became the only Connecticut High School to make it to the Scholastic A Finals of the Northeast Regional Championships where they ultimately finished in the top three, only one point out of first place.

The NHS Color Guard competed in a crowded field of 14 schools from New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Despite not having any opportunity to practice their show prior to taking the floor because Newtown Schools were closed in anticipation of a snow storm that never materialized, the Guard finished the preliminary round with a score of 71.7, 1.4 points behind Hillsborough (N.J.) High School and Mineola (N.Y.) High School who tied for first place with a score of 73.1.

 Determined to make up ground with their crowd-pleasing show called “Back on the Road,” the 19 NHS Varsity Guard members took the floor in the finals and delivered. They managed to erase a full point gap with Hillsborough, and erased .4 points between Newtown and Mineola, to finish with a score of 73.3, just .4 points behind second-place finisher Hillsborough and one point behind Mineola, much to the delight of Guard Instructor Bob Findley.

“They did what we asked them to do,” Mr Findley said. “It brought a tear to my eye.”

Mr Findley and instructor Janos Pergely both expressed eagerness at the upcoming opportunity to take on their Winter Guard International rivals in the next regional competition, slated for March 24 and 25 in South Brunswick, N.J.

“We can’t wait,” Mr Pergely said. “We are only going to get better.”

 The NHS Varsity Guard is lead by captains Sara Hetzer, Grace McKinley, and Victoria Hanulik. Guard members are seniors Jess Sideleau and Becca Tobin; juniors Cherokee Belval, Melissa Christiano, April Corbo, Caitlin FitzGerald, Brandon Ghent, Grace Hubbard, Meaghan Kelly, and Haley Malin; sophomore Paige Thanasoulis; freshmen Courtney Datin, Kayleigh Granville, Caitlin Jones, and Kelsea Morshuk; and Newtown Middle School eighth grader Camryn Gaudett.

 The Varsity Guard, along with the Newtown Junior Varsity and Juniors division Winter Guard, will compete this Saturday, February 18, at Naugatuck High School in a Musical Arts Conference (MAC) competition. This far this season, all three Newtown Winter Guard teams are undefeated in MAC competitions.