After getting to school early for an 8 a.m. call time, the color guard traveled to Canyon High School in New Braunfels to compete at the Winter Guard International (WGI) San Antonio regional competition on Saturday, March 16. They placed twelfth out of 28 color guards in their class, qualifying them for finals. 

“I heard from a lot of people that they had a lot of breaks in the show,” Captain Ari Coulekar ‘24 said. “It almost sounded like we weren’t going to make finals. Then we learned that we got twelfth, so it wasn’t even very last [place], so that was really cool.”

Unlike the WGI Austin regional competition, the only other WGI event the color guard competed at this season, the color guard went to WGI San Antonio in years past. This made some members feel more comfortable going into this competition.

“WGI San Antonio was something that at least some of us were familiar with, so it was really nice to be able to return with a new show, ” Coulekar said.

The show, Attention Earthlings, revolves around the concept of aliens and their quest to take over Earth in order to save it from human destruction. The show uses bright colors and an upbeat cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Sammy Rae and the Friends to create an optimistic mood for the show.

“I really like embodying a character that is more quirky and fun,” Coulekar said. “A lot of guard shows tend to be sad, dramatic ballads, [so] it’s really fun to be able to perform in a way that is unconventional and different than what we’re used to.”

The color guard showcased a variety of skills in their performances, from dance moves to flag choreography to rifle tosses to performance quality.

“In finals, when I caught the five, it felt really good and it felt like I performed it well,” Draden Jones ‘26 said. “I want to improve on my consistency [of] how I do skills. Watching other guards, other people are very consistent with their skills, so I want to practice more.”

After the finals performance, the color guard sat in the stands to watch the retreat, a time when placements are announced and the captains accept awards on behalf of their respective color guards.

“Even though it seems like twelfth isn’t a good place to be, for this competition, we had a lot of really strong competitors, so [it was nice] just being able to put out a good show and have a good run,” Coulekar said.

The color guard will perform next at the Texas Color Guard Circuit competition at Georgetown High School on Saturday, March 23.