Heritage High School’s Guard had a successful season in both the fall Color Guard and Winter Guard. Color Guard is led by captain senior Sophia Benavides, along with the weapons section leaders, seniors, Haley Wyer and Presley Thomas, and a junior, Lanie Keith is the flag section leader. “Fall Guard went spectacular, amazing,” Benavides said. “We had an undefeated season. The show was great. I think the atmosphere was pretty good.” The show for this year’s Color Guard was the “Aria,” which takes pieces from three different operas. At the end of the show, Benavides and Anderson Sassada come together to perform a duet. 

Winter Guard also went well and the guard members are proud of the show that they put on. Every year, the Winter Guard performs to a different song—usually something a little melancholy. However, this year the song was “Rainbow” by Kesha, which is more of an upbeat song. “It’s just about picking yourself up and becoming a better person through your trials and finding that rainbow in your life,” Coach Taylor said. “The performance was a little more upbeat and a little more hopeful than normal.” Guard seniors are sad that they are leaving, but they are grateful for the chance to be able to make friends and bond with everyone in guard. They are proud of how far everyone has come. “I made really good friends and I grew so much as a person from that person I was at the end of eighth grade. I’m a completely different person now, and I’m glad that I had guard,” Thomas said. Guard tryouts for the next school year have already started, and members of Color Guard who will be back next year look forward to next year’s season and are excited to see how the upcoming members will do.