On Feb. 18, 2023, the ANHS Winter Guard participated in their first competition of the winter season at Valencia High School in Placentia.

This year’s Winter Guard show is called “We Threw Our Hearts Into the Sea.” The concept involves boats, songs, and the ocean.

Mae Villamil (10), a current member of the Winter Guard, says about the song and performance this year, “‘The Boat Song’ is just like any other color guard song. We do visuals that represent the emotional connotation of the lyrics.”

The performers represent water or the waves, and they tell a story through their movements and props. The story is primarily told through the song lyrics of their show song, “The Boat Song,” which are the means that express most of the plot.

The group earned a score of 63.230 competing in the Scholastic AA division. They performed the best in the movement, design analysis, and some general effect categories. However, their equipment and other general effect categories brought the overall score down slightly. Still, they maintained in a solid position among their competitors.

Aliso Niguel placed fourth in their division, which comprised of nine different schools in the southern California region. The groups are scored based on various aspects of their performance such as equipment, movement, design, and general effect.

Paige Derenard (10), one of the color guard captains, says about the team’s performance at this competition, “I’m really proud of how the team did, especially for the first competition. I’m excited to see where the team goes over the course of this season.”

The Winter Guard’s position in this first competition sets them up for future success for the rest of the season. Already in the upper half of the competition, the group can only improve from this beginning and will hopefully improve over the remainder of the guard season.

Compared to the fall season color guard, the winter guard performs very differently as the center of the show. During the fall season, the color guard performs alongside the marching band and drumline. However, they perform alone as Winter Guard and attend their own competitions.

Last season, the Winter Guard performed very well at their competitions, placing in first, fifth, third, and another third place throughout their various appearances. At last year’s preliminaries, they came in third place, and later, they came in fourth place overall at the finals.

This season’s performance has been in progress for around only two months or so, since the beginning of the second semester.

Winter Guard will perform this season’s show again live in future competitions, which will take place on March 11, March 25, April 1, and April 8. Championships will take place on April 22 and 23, at the end of the competition season.