The curtains open, and the lights shine out onto the faces of the performers. The NHS Winter Guard members could feel the eyes of the audience beaming towards them. As they walked onto the mat for their biggest night of their season, the performers felt the sweaty palms and the ceaseless fear of dropping a rifle that a show like this brings. The pressure was on, and it was time for their hard work and dedication to be noticed and rewarded. Persistence always pays off.

In April, the Miller Winter Guard performed for the final time their state championship show “Xll,” earning a 3rd place bronze at the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio with a score of 95.30. Their year-long effort was paid off, the squad’s director Jeff Welsh says, with this final success. “It was a great season. They worked so well as a team, they definitely committed themselves to the amount of rehearsal necessary to be really good,” Welsh said.

Freshman Larissa Young experienced for the first time what a day at the world championship is like.“We were in Dayton Ohio for three days per- forming three times. We would wake up at 6 a.m., get ready, then we’d get on a bus and ride over to the church to practice before the competition for two to three hours. After that, we’d head over to the University of Dayton Arena and do our show,” Young said.

The many hours spent practicing and perfecting color guard bring with it many friends and memories along the way, according to the members.

“Winter guard has really helped me come out of my shell,” Rachel Martin, a sophomore in her third year of color guard, said. “I’ve become more out- going, and I communicate with people a lot better. I’m definitely not as shy as I used to be.”

“It’s made me a lot more resilient. It can definitely be hard from time to time, you have to be really consistent to perform well,” Young said. “The feeling of walking out into University of Dayton Arena with everyone just cheering and shouting for you is something you’ll truly never forget.”

Young said she was overwhelmed by the appreciation from the audience. Her director says this year’s show was highlighted with importance due to the group’s theme.

“Our show was just really meaningful to the audience, because our show was based off addiction and the hope of recovery. My favorite part of the season was just the emotional connection the students got towards the show,” Welsh said. “Something I will cherish from this season forever was when we were about to go on at the preliminary competition at Dayton, and we were practicing our performance faces and our emotions behind the black curtain. And one of my students and I locked eyes with each other, and we both just started to cry.”

photos provided by Kadin Bright