After the final five-minute show of their season, the color guard remain still and spread out across the football field. Their chests rise and fall rapidly, but they continue to hold their poses until the taps of a snare drum signal them to gather their things and exit the field. As guard walk off the field, they gather props and flags, contemplating how this last competition performance has gone. Freshman Sophia Vinas looks around at the others in nervous excitement, hoping silently that they, and the band, make finals.

“That was one of our best shows that we had ever performed,” Vinas said. “It was the last performance, but it was our best performance.”

The color guard season spanned from the last week of April to the last playoff game on Dec. 2. Throughout this time, they attended summer camp, performed in multiple competitions with the band and cheered on the football team at every game.

“We worked out a lot in order to be able to go through the duration of our show,” senior Katelin Criswell said.

Along with their intensive workout routine, the color guard practice their choreography every day for months always making sure to help each other and work as a team to achieve their goals. They powered through their season and placed first at their first competition.

“I think us having a new director that was actually wanting to work with us kind of helped us as a team want to work together and actually try and just make the color guard better,” sophomore Alyson DeWolf said.

Overall, the color guard members had a season filled with memorable events ranging from rolling props hitting the drumline to late-night conversations on bus rides home. Criswell remembers dressing up as a character and breaking out of the cage props as a villain.

“Being in character was a great effect and created a more loveable dance,” Criswell said.