Recently, the South Lakes High School Winterguard team took fifth place at their first competition since the winter of 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The SLHS team debuted their spectacular performance titled Broken is Beautiful on Saturday, February 5th at Patriot High School in Nokesville, Virginia. Their show was performed to the song All the King’s Horses by Karmina, and combined dancing, flags, swords, and rifles. The SLHS Winterguard team is scheduled to attend four competitions in total, with the second competition taking place on February 26th at Potomac High School in Maryland. 

The performances are rated on a 100-point scale in four different categories: Equipment Analysis, Movement Analysis, Design Analysis, and General Effect. The Equipment Analysis category  is graded on how well moves with flags, rifles, and sabers are completed from a technical standpoint. Movement Analysis deals with the dance side of the performance, including the steady timing of moves, and proper execution. As for Design Analysis, this category focuses on the structure and layout of the performance, from the style of set design and costumes in a more technical sense. And finally, General Effect is measured by the “entertainment value” of the performance, specifically how interesting or engaging  the performance is with the audience. 

Lightridge High School took first place with 60.9 points, more than 6 points ahead of Colgan High School’s JV Winterguard team. With 48.5 points, South Lakes High School came in 5th place, although they have the 3rd highest score in the General Effect category. The SLHS Winterguard team has yet to fully complete their performance, so we can plan to see even more exciting things from them in the future.