At the Wentzville Liberty competition on Mar. 1, winter guard placed 2nd. In the last two years, Summit’s guard has been rebuilt. In 2023, the guard was primarily made up of seniors and freshmen. Since then, the guard’s skills as well as their bond continues to strengthen throughout the seasons.
Captain of the color guard, sophomore Skylar Holtgrewe said she has noticed large improvements in the team’s confidence and technique during her 4th season.
“My freshman year, basically everyone on the team was a freshman because a ton of seniors graduated the year before. We [really struggled], we couldn’t get anything done [whereas] last year in fall [of] 2024 we got best guard two times [at marching band competitions]. We placed highly at all our competitions. I’m really proud of all the freshmen and sophomores who put so much into it,” Holtgrewe said.
Preparing for competition, the guard practices around three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the upcoming winter guard International competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it has nerves at a high. Sophomore Roxanna Moore said practices have been more intense as of late, as the team works out each little kink.
“It’s definitely been more stressful with Tulsa coming. People are starting to pay more and more attention to the little things,” Moore said.
Trust within a team is the key to a perfect execution of a performance. Sophomore Amelia Otto said that the bond created from the practices, trips, and competitions has made a secure team able to improve collectively.
“Sharing a room [during a trip] and getting ready with each other in the morning [as well as] hanging out at night really connects us more as a group. We have definitely put more focus on technique, which makes everyone better. [The team is] really encouraging with each other and I feel like we’re a really tight knit group, it’s really easy to get better as a team,” Otto said.
Holtgrewe remarked similarly on the bond between the girls.
“Our team is really close, even on judges’ tapes they’ve said ‘you can tell your guard likes each other’ because everyone’s there to support each other,” Holtgrewe said.
Another factor to the team’s success is the pre-performance ritual that each team member does. Freshman Gabrielle Ferguson said that the team always shouts an encouraging message.
“I have a handshake with one of my teammates and [the team chants] ‘Summit guard on three!’” Ferguson said.
This year’s production, called “Missing Persephone”, is a showcase of Persephone and Demeter’s mother-daughter relationship. Persephone ate a few pomegranate seeds which tied herself to Hades, only allowing her mother to see her during spring and summer. To pay homage to this, sophomore Anna Bish said as a little kickstarter to each show, coach Halima Hussain gives each girl a sweet treat as a good luck symbol.
“Before we are about to perform our coach gives us pomegranate flavored jelly beans,” Bish said.
Handmade good luck symbols are made by the captains, Otto commented on the jewelry her section leaders have made for her and her teammates.
