The Winter Guard finished its 2019 season, leading them to jump up in the ranks to the Scholastic A division. They went undefeated in nine competitions, competing and winning against numerous other schools.  

The season started at the beginning of November and ended with their last meet on April 13. For those five months, 11 students from NVOT practiced and perfected routines for further competitions twice a week after school. NVD and NVOT combined their efforts this year, having 16 members total for their competitions. In the end, the team moved up in ranking, having a new place in the Scholastic A division.

Many of the meets this season were away competitions against other schools, the farthest distance traveled this year being to Holland, Pennsylvania to compete in the WGI Regional competition. On these days, when competing in full-day competitions, “we perform twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, both in the time limit of seven minutes,” as junior Seunghyun Cho stated. “The competitions are structured so that the performances happen first, and then at the end of the day, we receive our scores and places.”

With this year’s season coming to a close and having a final score of 88.3, the members of the winter guard feel that “this season was amazing,” as co-captain Nora Chamesian said. “Most of the Guard were Seniors last year, so we were a little nervous of how we would do this year,” she said. “I would say, however, that we may have done equal or better than last year.”

As for their ranking, Chamesian added that she feels “happy to have an opportunity to be in this ranking.” She described Scholastic A as “harder and more competitive, with higher tosses and a more detailed show.”

This does not intimidate the team, however, but rather makes them excited for the coming year. “I think we have come very far in these past few years and am glad that we are moving forward,” Chamesian stated, “I’m happy to have an opportunity to be in this ranking with the school.”

Winter guard advisor Ms. Wilcox could not be more “proud of the team” for their accomplishments as well and described their moving up to Scholastic A as “moving up from CPE to honors.” “The kids are excited about it,” Wilcox explained, “it’s a huge sense of pride for them. They are basically being told they are better than the class they are in right now.” As for the season as a whole, she felt the students this year improved. “They worked better together this year, and they had each others’ backs throughout,” she stated. “I think that’s why we were so successful.”

Overall, the ending of this year’s season left the team in high spirits that will travel with them into the 2020 season next year. “This season was a success,” Chamesian stated.  “We’re all excited for next year.”