On February 11, the Wayne Hills Millennia Winter Guard won first place at their second competition of the season! The Guard, comprised of twenty-one members, captivated their audience with their myth-themed show, “Sirens.”

The Winter Guard is an extracurricular group with a season that starts in January and ends in April but despite this long season, they start practices in December. The Co-Captains of this 2023 season are seniors Gianna Passaro and Jessica Smith, both of whom were Co-Captains during the Marching Band season for the Color Guard. The Guard Lieutenant is junior, Miranda Huhn, who is also the Secretary of the Wayne Hills Band Council.

Their show, “Sirens” is a show based on the ancient creatures of Greek mythology: sirens. These creatures are female, human-like creatures that sang beautiful songs to captivate the hearts of sailors and lead them to their doom. Dressed in blue, brown, and gold, the guard emulates the vibe of pretty but deadly in their performance.

The show this past weekend wasn’t their first show though! The Guard’s first performance was their preview show at West Milford on January 14, an event where they give a little bit of what their show is and receive feedback from judges on what they should add or improve for their competitions.

On January 28, the guard had their first competition at West Orange High School, where they won second place out of nine guards in their division, just 1.7 points behind first place. Although this was their first competition, they were actually promoted from their division to a higher division: Scholastic AA. Their show is just that great! In this division, there are guards with longer shows but they were told they didn’t have to change anything despite their promotion. But this just means they have to perfect every aspect of their show and the Guard Captains believe they can do it!

Passaro expressed pride in her team, specifically saying, “we were able to prove how talented we are as a team and our efforts were shown by being placed at a higher level.”

Smith expressed surprise at their promotion so early on in the season but expresses that she “knew it would be a huge challenge but our guard has made great progress with the show.”

Not only that, but both Captains expressed determination to have fun and succeed this season. Passaro has hopes for their season “because of their consistent work, dedication, and effort that [her] fellow teammates are putting forward [she] looks forward to seeing [their] ever approaching championship performance.” She’s aiming high, not just with her tosses but with her ambitions for the Guard season.

Despite also wanting to succeed as well, Smith said, “Regardless of any scores, I’m hoping that everyone is able to learn something new and meet new people. The most important thing is being able to find another family, everyone adds to the show in some kind of way.”

Both Captains care a lot about their team so there is no doubt that they’ll do great and have good experiences this season! If you want to keep up with the Guard and see one of their shows, follow their Instagram: @waynehillscg