When a football halftime is called, the Lancer Regiment, made up of both the marching band and Color Guard, take to the field, performing musically and visually with spinning flags, rifles and sabres.
After football season finishes, however, the Color Guard becomes Winter Guard, an exclusive team performing indoors without the marching band. During the winter and spring, the Guard showcases their talents at regional and national competitions.
This year, with abundant incoming freshmen, there were enough students for the Winter Guard to split into two, leaving a varsity team along with the smallest Winter Guard group that’s allowed to compete: a JV team of five performers.
“We have a very large senior class this year, so we wanted to make sure that we could let the seniors be as competitive as they can be while the younger members are in the JV, building those skills that they need to be successful,” Evan Coonrod, director of Lafayette Guard, said.
When it comes to competition, Lafayette’s varsity team is judged as a Scholastic A class, an upper level division for more experienced performers, Coonrod said. JV, on the other hand, follows by a step below varsity, in the Scholastic AA class.
“At a competition, both classes, AA and A, are judged off the same sheet,” Coonrod said. “[Judges are] looking for the same things, but the AA class isn’t necessarily as difficult in competition. It’s like an intermediate level as far as body movement, dance and what they do with equipment.”
Despite being a small group in an intermediate division, Coonrod said this doesn’t stop JV from putting together well-designed shows.
“It’s like a play almost, or a musical they bring to life. They’re telling a story, and they do a really great job of telling that story even though there’s only five of them,” Coonrod said.
As one of the older JV members, junior Mini Walden has the most experience being on guard and takes on the center most often.
Walden has been a part of Lafayette Guard since the fall season of her freshman year, but because of the new JV division, Walden’s had more of a personal impact in Winter Guard this year.
“Before, I would just kind of blend in. I’d be in the background and I would just go with the flow. Now, I’m leading a small team. I can guide them for competitions in the winter [because] I have extra experience,” Walden said.
Although she’s close with her team and enjoys JV, Walden admits that being a part of a smaller team doesn’t go without challenges.
“If you drop or make a mistake in the choreography, it’s much easier to notice,” Walden said. “But it’s better for learning how to perform, just so you’re not straight faced on the floor spinning. With an amount like five, somebody has to be in the middle since it’s odd, and I’m assuming they chose me to be [the center] for solos because I’ve been on guard the longest.”
JV doesn’t qualify for many competitions that the varsity goes to since they’re a smaller team, Walden said. This doesn’t stop Walden and other JV members from cheering on the varsity team when they go to farther competitions.
“It was Kansas City, and then there’s Dayton in April, that [JV’s] not going to,” Walden said. “I am going though, they do allow you to go if you’re in the JV. You can sleep in the hotel rooms with [varsity], but the only difference is that we’re not performing.”
With half of Winter Guard overall being made up of senior performers, Walden anticipates a big change next year, even though there may not be a JV team next year.
“I was very emotional last competition because they had pulled aside the seniors to take a photo together, and I looked at who was left over and I realized, ‘I’m pretty much going to be in charge of this next year.’ I’m gonna miss the seniors a lot because I’m really close to them,” Walden said.
As one of the few rising seniors, Walden says she will need to get ready to help manage a larger Winter Guard team next year. But without being in a small team this year, Walden says she wouldn’t have known what it would be like to take the lead.
“They listen to me,” Walden said. “They take me seriously when I need to be serious with them if we’re not doing what we’re supposed to, if I need them to be quiet when we’re folding the floor. They definitely do a good job.”
Saturday, March 29, JV Winter Guard officially ended their season, placing 5th among nine teams in their round at the Mid-Continent Color Guard Association Championships. Although they won’t attend Winter Guard International Worlds like varsity will, JV will still perform one last time, at 8p.m. in the main gym Monday, March 31, for the WGI send-off.
