River Valley Winter Guard took fifth place at a Winter Guard International regional competition in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 5.
In its fifth year and traveling to its first out-of-state regional, the winter performance group finished seventh in preliminaries out of 30 in the Scholastic A class with a score of 77.98.
The 728 Cadets had a terrific weekend at a Regional Winter Guard International competition in St. Louis, Missouri.
River Valley Winter Guard, composed of 728 Cadets who are students grades seven through 12 from across the Elk River Area School District, is an artistic and interpretive performance medium that combines music and modern dance with flags, sabres, mock rifles and other traditional marching band equipment and takes place over the winter season.
River Valley Winter Guard 2016 production “On Target” was designed to bring its audiences on a journey of battles and challenges that require training and precision to fight. It draws inspiration from the acts overcoming these obstacles.
“Going into finals, the team knew they needed to do nothing different, but have a great run,” head director Evan Pufpaf said. “The staff stressed to the members that this needs to be about having fun and working together.”
At the end of the performance — considered their best to date — spectators who packed the gymnasium roared with excitement. The team was rewarded with a score of 80.56 and fifth place.
The team is now ranked 14th out of 111 guards that will compete in the national WGI finals in Dayton, Ohio, in April.
The 728 Cadets hosted a marching arts show on March 12 at Elk River High School. This was the group’s annual River Valley Winter Arts Festival. There were 29 ensembles performing between two shows. The first, a percussion show, was held in the afternoon a color guard show was held in the evening.
All three Cadet winter ensembles (hornline, drumline and winter guard) will travel to the national WGI finals in April.