It is almost the end of the year, which means it is crunch time for the Jacksonville High School Winter Guard. With their first competition on January 2, they have two weeks to perfect their routines. Try outs for the team were the last week of October and the first of November. Afterwards they got straight to work, teaching routines, flag work, dance, facial expressions and team work. Captain Genna Fanning says, “Every year we get closer to state. Last year we were .7 points away. We have worked hard to make that .7 a reality this year, and in the process we have become a family.”

Full of gusto, the team puts their best foot forward at practices every Monday and Thursday, and Saturday for those who can make it. Often showing up early or staying late, the team members take full advantage of this practice time and work hard to get it right. It’s not easy tossing a five and a half foot aluminum pole in the air repetitively, but these girls do it. Working their hardest at practices and getting more help and practice on their own outside of rehearsals, it isn’t hard to see that the Winter Guard has a very dedicated team this year. “Winter Guard is a place where you learn discipline and structure while having fun. Rachel has been with us the last four years and has done a lot for us, and together we will make it to state this year,” says Captain Emma Miner.

The two routines this year are “Shell-Shocked” for the tall flag routine and “Warrior” for the lyrical routine. “Shell-Shocked” is a particularly fast-paced, fierce routine that the team is confident will take them to state, especially once they conquer all three of the choreographed partner tosses. If you think it’s hard catching your own toss, try catching someone else’s. Due to the difficulty level of the tall flag routine, the team has dedicated many hours to perfecting it and will dedicate many more before their first competition on January 2, but Coach Rachel Mansell is very confident in her team’s abilities. Meanwhile, the lyrical routine, “Warrior,” is much more of an emotional routine that takes precision and grace to portray perfectly. Hopefully the audience will be left crying by the end of the performance.

With only two weeks until their first competition, the team is in professional mode at every practice. Attentive and determined, the team works hard to accomplish as much as they can in their two-hour practices. Recently they took a Saturday and had a seven-hour practice where they ironed out many wrinkles in their routine and grew closer as a team over pizza, sodas, and a couple of injuries, of course. No matter how the next two weeks go, the team will be ready to dominate as the Jacksonville “Warriors” at their first competition.