Teammates dancing. Flags spinning. Rifles and sabres flying. This is the typical scene for a color guard performance. The team traveled, performed, and earned third place at their most recent competition this season. At this competition, the team placed the highest they have all season, and with championships coming up, they are looking to end the season on a good note.

Color guard combines dancing and movement with spinning flags, rifles and sabres. It originated from the military, which is one reason why the uniforms of color guard teams are so immaculate. The color guard team at continues to  practice their routines over and over again in order to perfect their performance.

“Every rehearsal we practice like its our last performance every single time,” senior and captain Jada Williams said. “We do this so that when our adrenaline kicks in, nothing unexpected will happen during a show because we practiced how we perform.”

Coach Bella Merino has been coaching the color guard team for four years now, and enjoys watching her team grow and accomplish new skills through their hard work.

“They spend so much time together that they develop a second family and learn important skills on how to work together effectively as a team,” Coach Merino said. “With a little bit of drive and effort you can be doing some really cool tricks whether it be dance or with equipment.”

First-time captain Williams is proud of her team’s performances throughout the season, and in the future she looks forward to seeing her teammates progress and achieve great things. This season, she has tried to be the best leader she can be in order to help her teammates obtain their goals.

“You have to balance between being fun and motivating and strict and responsible,” Williams said. “Since I’ve been on the team a while, I’ve seen many different types of captains. I basically took things I liked and didn’t do things I didn’t like from previous captains and made it my own.”

Sophomore Alexia Muro joined color guard this year, and she is proud of herself and her teammates for their overall performance this year. In the future, she hopes to learn new skills and make her team proud.

“I’m going to give it the best I possibly can,” Muro said. “It doesn’t matter what number we place, I’m just extremely proud to have made new friends and watched myself improve along the way.”

As the season came to an end, Williams’ last performance became the most memorable. The seniors gave it their all as they finished their final show.

“I want everyone to leave everything we have on the floor for our last performance,” Williams said. “What our results will be is super unpredictable so we never know what’s going to happen. I just want to be able to look back one day and feel super good about the show.”

If you wish to tryout for color guard next season, click here for more information.