The Downers Grove South Winterguard team is making history in their inaugural season.
The brand-new team started out on a high note when they finished first out of 14 winterguards at their first competition at Naperville North High School on January 24th. Today, they remain undefeated in their class, adding three more first-place trophies from the competitions they have attended in Illinois and Indiana.
“Since this is our first winterguard season, we weren’t sure how we would place at competitions. Our success has been an amazing experience,” said instructor Beth Refsnider. “I couldn’t be more proud. This is an incredibly fun and hard-working group of students, and it makes me so happy to see that their hard work and diligence is being recognized.”
The students are excited to represent DGS and spread the word about their new winterguard team.
“Winterguard is such a unique sport,” said freshman Anna Burton. “It's hard work, sweat, tears, and six foot flags all thrown together to get a special sport that's pleasing to watch and fantastic to participate in.”
Winterguards practice and perform inside school gymnasiums with flags, wooden rifles, and sabers. Each team has a different piece of music and theme that they pick, and a typical performance time is 3 – 6 minutes long. Students spin, toss, and dance, all while moving around to make different forms throughout the show. They are judged on the “General Effect” of their show, how they dance, how they spin, and how they work together as a group.
The Downers Grove South winterguard’s show is entitled “A Little Help From My Friends” and features the music of Joe Cocker.
“I love our show, because it’s about friends helping each other out and having fun,” said Junior Captain Amanda Garza. “We're all great friends and we enjoy having the opportunity to perform and have fun and do what we love to do."
The students in the winterguard are: Kristen Bennett, Anna Burton, Jessica Colip, Jenn Felseker, Taylor Froats, Amanda Garza, Olivia Germann, Becky Hays, Christine Hood, Kara Kastenholz, Megan Schreck, Suzanne Segredo, and Molly Strantz. The team is young, with 5 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 1 senior.
The DGS winterguard is excited to continue on with their successful season. “I love competition days,” said Burton. “I love waking up and being with the people I love for excessive amounts of time. I love coming to a new school and getting the performing jitters and just performing with all that I have. I love seeing the other guards, whom I aspire to be as good as, and just being with other people who love this sport as much as I do.”
The Downers Grove South Winterguard performs next at the Lake Park High School Competition in Roselle, Illinois on March 6th. They finish their season at the Lincoln Way East High School Competition in Frankfort, Illinois on March 21st. For schedules for these competitions, go to www.midwestcolorguard.com.
