El Dorado Color Guard places in nationwide competition, takes home gold in California contest

From Tuesday, April 5, to Sunday, April 10, the El Dorado High School Winter Guard traveled to Dayton, Ohio, to compete in the 39th Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championships. This was El Dorado’s first trip to this event, and they joined approximately 400 winter guards from around the nation for this competition. EDHS competed in the “Scholastic Open Class” along with 52 other high school groups. Going into the competition, El Dorado was ranked 23rd in the nation. After taking first place in both their preliminary and semi-final rounds, the team competed in the finals against the top 20 groups in their class, and took home eighth place. This is a rare feat for a first-time participant, and created a buzz around the WGI community about the El Dorado Color Guard! As an added bonus, senior captain Rachel Griffin received one of 10 WGI scholarships in the amount of $1,500, which was awarded to her at the finals ceremony.

Each color guard rehearses and performs on a tarp that covers the length and width of a basketball court. Each tarp is designed to complement the show theme, and can cost a few thousand dollars. Last fall, the EDHS Color Guard entered a national contest held by the company Winter Guard Tarps. By reaching out to friends and family through social media to vote online, the EDHS Color Guard won the contest, and received a free digitally printed custom tarp to incorporate into their show! This tarp helped set the stage for an award-winning season.

As if things couldn’t get any better, El Dorado’s Color Guard returned home, and competed in the Winter Guard Association of Southern California (WGASC) Championships on Sunday, April 17. There, they took home the gold medal by receiving the top score in the “Scholastic Open Class!” Once again, Rachel Griffin was awarded a scholarship – this time from WGASC in the amount of $1,000.

This has truly been a historic season for the El Dorado Color Guard program. The school is very proud of the members of the team for their commitment to the program, to the staff for educating and training the team during this season, and to the band and color guard boosters who have supported the program.