According to the Feb. 28 and March 6 WCHS news broadcasts, WCHS Winter Guard took first place in their class at the Bellbrook competition on Saturday, February 25. The guard had the highest score in the Regional Scholastic A group, defeating 13 other teams! On Sunday, March 5, WCHS took home another first place win at Centerville High school competition. The score was 76.63, defeating 10 other teams including GWOC rivals Stebbins and Xenia.

Winterguard at WCHS started in November. In winter guard competitions you can toss rifles, flags, etc. The instructors for winterguard are Ms. Carrie Ellen, (former WCHS graduate) Mr. Michael Gregerson, and Ms. Michelle Coale. Students in all grades can join this sport.

For those who don’t know, guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena. Performances make use of recorded music rather than a live band or orchestra.

Junior Brandon Caissie has participated in winter guard for three years. Caissie said, “Winter guard is my favorite, more than color guard. Except for the exercise videos we do most on Thursdays.”

The team competes all the time. Winter guard students go to different schools and perform their show and judges rate them on techniques, such as how well someone spins. “Winter guard is a good workout and it relieves stress, it also builds up stress but I take it out on spinning,” said Caissie.

Winter guard ends in April. The students practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  

Caissie has learned to throw a two and a half silk toss which is impressive because there are a lot of flags in guard. Caissie’s favorite memory in Winterguard was when a senior named Sam (who is not in guard) and Caissie were throwing a water bottle back and forth and cap came off and spilled all over Caissie.