In Neighbors
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Bellbrook High School’s color guard squad was named as the top winner in the Scholastic A division of the 2013 Winter Guard International Color Guard World Championships, which were recently held at the University of Dayton Arena.
“I cannot even begin to explain the thoughts going through my head when we heard second place and our name was not announced. A moment of joy and accomplishment was all I could think about. Of course, I cried my eyes out and just remember putting the medals on the members’ necks. That moment was so special for me as it would be for any instructor,” said Bellbrook High School and Middle School Guard Director Sheldon Apo.
Before the big win was announced with a top score of 95.125, the group was involved in three levels of the Winter Guard International (WGI) competition including preliminaries, semi-finals and finals. The class Bellbrook’s color guard competed in was the largest of six classes that WGI offers.
In spite of the big win, Apo said the competition definitely had its ups and downs.
“Bellbrook was going into world championships ranked 3rd. After our preliminary performance we placed 4th out of 109 guards. After our semis performance we moved up to 2nd place. So going into finals we were so happy to hopefully get a medal. And of course, the main highlight was winning even by the slimmest of margins,” he said.
Apo, who directs three guards at the middle school and high school levels, said it was his top team of 18 that won the world championship. This is the third time the team has made the finals but only the first time that they have won.
The win is also a fitting tribute with Mother’s Day right around the corner, because Bellbrook chose “Mother, Mine,” as the title of the show and dedicated it to their mothers. The squad performed on a tarp that featured photos of each member with his or her mom.
Onyx, of Dayton, was another local team that was honored. The group took home a second place nod in the Independent World class with their performance of “Stella Maris.”
“The performers work hard. The physical and mental demands on the performers at this level is very high,” said Michael Lentz, director and designer, Onyx Color Guard of Dayton, who was behind one of three teams from their organization that competed.
For a complete list of participants and winners, go to www.wgi.org.
The three-day event included participants from as far away as Japan.
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