Oak Park Winter Guard participated in a series of competitions where they showcased skills that they have been developing all season.

In the guard’s competition arrangement, two of the athletes on the primary rifle line are middle school students. Winter guard has expanded its eligibility to incorporate eighth grade members, with the intention of broadening the program.

“As the competitions draw nearer, we start doing full run-throughs, just drilling all of our work over and over,” eighth grade color guard member Brynn Gorney wrote to the Talon. “We focus on little details and flaws and try to clean those up.”

At competitions, judges look for a variety of standards such as the team’s ability to work together, overall presentation and organization.

“The girls perform in front of five judges,” coach Cameron Curtis said. “They are scored on movement, how well they spin and the overall design of their show. They are scored out of 100 by each judge and the average of their scores is the total score that they receive. Each team performs, gets an individual score and is placed from there.”

Each guard is placed in one out of 10 divisions based on skill level, which is determined by the judges.

“The scoring system is based on use of equipment, general effect, vocabulary and design,” coach Hunter Browneller wrote to the Talon. “Oak Park Winter Guard is currently in [the second, high school division] AA, mainly because this is only everyone’s first and second year and most [winter] guards have been spinning for over four years.”

Competitions take full days of commitment and are generally held at locations that are hours away from Oak Park.

“[The Oak Park Guard] is in a circuit called WGASC (Winter Guard Association of Southern California) so they compete against guards from Santa Barbara all the way to San Diego,” Curtis said.

The addition of eighth grade students to the program makes for a larger group of athletes and gives team members access to extensive amounts of training before they even begin attending Oak Park High School.

“I think [recruiting eighth graders] is one of the best decisions we’ve made,” senior and team captain Nishka Vipul said. “They can and definitely will carry the team ahead for success in the future.”

Team members said they agree that the pair of eighth grade members are an asset to the team and will contribute to the future growth of the color guard program.

“I was wary [to have eighth graders on the team], but the two we have are incredibly mature and so hardworking,” freshman color guard member Shri Arulmani said. “I forget that they’re middle schoolers most of the time. They’re both just amazing people in general.”

Although the program was established only last year, color guard members report that it continuously improves and advances.

“[Winter guard] is still really new. For being so new, I think it’s doing pretty well,” senior and team captain Yaya Martinez said. “We don’t receive a lot of funding which makes for quite an expensive sport but we do it because we love it. We really are a family and practice is a lot of fun.”

According to the athletes, the minimal size of the group has given them a chance to bond, enhancing their performance together, as a whole.

“We’re a team of eight right now and that’s really small when compared to other guards,” Vipul said. “But in the near future, I hope our family grows.”

Both coaches worked collaboratively to produce a show that incorporates and communicates a message. The team will showcase this performance at each competition.

“I was watching TV one day and a trailer came on that had the song in the background. I searched for the song and listened to the real version and fell in love,” Browneller wrote. “I knew almost instantly that this song would make a great Winter Guard show, so we started writing the dance work and everything fell into place from there.”

The team has spent the season integrating their prop — a cage built by the team — into their production.

“Our cage, along with our costumes, represent all the restrictions society places on us,” Vipul said. “The whole team is wearing black and they’re outside the cage, they represent negativity. I’m trapped inside the cage and I’m wearing white. So, it’s not only a fight against other people but also a fight within yourself to establish yourself as an individual.”

During practices, which are generally held three times a week, the team also focuses on staying in unison and refining technicalities in their routine in order to have a solid performance during competitions.

“Our show contains rifles, flags, a sabre, chains, which the dancers use to perform with, and a seven-foot jail cell in the middle of the floor,” Browneller wrote. “The show’s title, ‘Human,’ is all about people not always knowing what to say or do, which makes us human. We don’t always have the right answers, but that’s all right.”