The delicate fabric of flags soar, and paper floats to the ground as silver-clad figures dance across the floor. Golden yellow is slowly revealed behind layers of newspaper, dotting the stage with dashes of color as the music plays on. Slowly, the dancers gracefully fall, one by one until the music fades out. There is a moment of stillness before the crowd roars, standing and cheering for Lockport Township High School’s Varsity Winter Guard.
On April 9th, the Varsity and Junior Varsity winter guards performed their shows at Homer Junior High in their final community performance of this year, which also marked Junior Varsity’s last performance of their show, “In the Dark,” a show distinguished by a deep gray color palette, many massive candles, and a theme that flawlessly juxtaposed that of the Varsity show. Many enthusiastic students, parents, and teachers came to support the guard members and cheered throughout the performance. Before the performance began, however, the guard staff recognized the departing seniors, including Gabby Brewer, Jordan Conway, Briana Kelderhouse, Nex Spencer, Zoie West, and Allie Washington, some of whom were the first to cycle through the entire program from 8th-12th grade. The graduating members fondly reminisced on their time in the program, recounting their favorite memories made in colorguard throughout the years and offering words of advice and encouragement to new members.
After the acknowledgement of the departing seniors, winter guard instructor and show designer John Collier explained that he and the staff had the current Varsity show, “For Daylight,” in their “back pocket” for years, but were waiting for the perfect group of students to let it shine. And shine it did, from its intriguing premise and eye-catching props to the incredibly talented team performing it.
Throughout the season, this year’s winter guard program has racked up a long list of accomplishments, scoring higher than any LTHS Junior Varsity or Varsity Winter Guard team in the history of the program. On April 12th at the University of Dayton Arena, Varsity became this year’s WGI World Championship Silver Medalist with a score of 96.21, ranking second out of 118 teams in the Scholastic A Division. On April 7th, at the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championships, Junior Varsity became the Scholastic A Local Class Champions with a score of 83.47, while varsity became the Scholastic A National Class Champions with a score of 94.54! These high rankings are only the beginning of the LTHS Winter Guard’s accomplishments this season; both Varsity and Junior Varsity also placed first in their respective divisions at the Minooka, Schaumburg, Naperville Central, and Steperettes Winter Guard Contests, among other regional events for Varsity.
The LTHS Winter Guard had both a successful and enjoyable season. It got off to a rocky start when, after the collapse of Central Campus, the teams were forced to move their practices to Hadley Middle School. However, both Varsity and Junior Varsity exceeded expectations throughout the season with their skillful, visually appealing, and emotionally impactful performances. To commemorate the end of both teams’ seasons, let’s offer many congratulations to both winter guard teams for all of their accomplishments and the hard work they put in to achieve them!
