Friday afternoon the varsity guard was off to Salem, Mass., for the New England Regional Competition.

The guard competed against 20 other teams from around the New England area. Saturday, everyone was up at the crack of dawn for practice, then off to the preliminary competition. Only ten guards, out of the 20, were selected to compete in the finals, with the Newtown team coming in fourth in the preliminaries. This was the first time the Newtown Winter Guard had made it to the finals.

Sunday morning, the guard was up early again for one last practice before going off to the finals. The varsity guard was the seventh team to perform, then the long wait all day while the other guard divisions performed. It was a great feeling for all the members of the guard when they won third place; all their hard work, dedication, and teamwork had paid off.

The varsity winter guard has had an undefeated season this year, having won its class in all eight MAC competitions performed in so far this year. There is one more show at Masuk this coming weekend, then MAC championships on April 2 at Trumbull High School.

The winter guard season runs from January to the beginning of April with competitions most every Saturday.

Captains this year are Lauren Imperioli and Amanda Krause. The members of the varsity winter guard team are Vicky Cardoso, Karen Whippie, Lauren Imperioli, Laura Douglas, Lauren Hebert, Amanda Krause, Connie Riccardi, Jessica Macey, Valerie Weymouth, Kristen Fetchik, Katie Aiello, Conor Kovatch, Sam Carlisle, Cara Buckley, and Tiffany Weymouth.