Saturday, February 1, brought another trophy to the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Winter Guard’s collection for this season, scoring 65.02 and securing 2nd place at the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network (MAIN) Hillsborough Competition.
Between its previous competition at Old Bridge High School, the Winter Guard used feedback from their previous competition to tweak specific components in their show.
For example, the team members were informed that they needed to lead more into the characters that were in the show. This meant that they had to consistently put effort throughout the show to ensure that it was the best quality all throughout.
Another skill they had to improve on was their breathing throughout the show. They would tend to start nervously, and that combined with poor breathing meant that their show gradually lost energy when performed.
However, to improve on this, in the week leading up to the competition, the winter guard did more conditioning to feel stronger. They would jog every practice and train their arms and legs to get stronger. The ultimate goal was to build stamina to keep energy levels up throughout the entire show.
Performing relatively late in the competition circuit, at 7:24 p.m., the Winter Guard put on another installment of their annual show,
Le Café, for judges Jenkins, Tankard, Riley, Thompson, and Kraft, who were judges in the categories of Equipment Analysis, Movement Analysis, Design Analysis and General Effect, respectively. With a score improvement of 0.22 from their previous performance just a week prior, the Guard has set an appreciable upward trend, which they hope to continue throughout the season.
Winter Guard Captain Shravani Bichkule provided her view on the competition and the overall performance of the guard.
“The competition went really well—we placed second in our class, which is something to be proud of. However, what mattered most to me as a team member was seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, knowing that we all had a great performance. I’m excited to continue growing together as a team and to add the third part of the show!” she said.
The Winter Guard, focusing on refining their show through intensive rehearsal schedules, can be seen on February 22 at South Brunswick High School for their next competitive performance.
