For the first time, the Warsaw Community High School Winter Guard is winning some trophies, according to coach Tiffany Portz.

They received their first trophy this year for placing fifth in competition at Danville High School, then placed third in competition at Bishop Dwenger High School two weeks ago.

While the awards are nice, it's the girls' development that is important to Portz.

"My goals for the season are to really develop the girls' dance ability and expand on their rifle and flag ability above and beyond the basics," she said.

Before state preliminaries, the squad has two more competitions. They compete at Lafayette-Jefferson High School Saturday, take a weekend off, then compete at Heritage High School.

For a theme this year, the Guard is performing to REM's song "Nightswimming." The tarp is painted as a water/beach scene and there is pier which some of the girls perform on. Portz said the show is more reflecting on life and good memories.

"It's more dramatic," Portz said. "It's more reflective. You're at peace, calm. Tranquil."

The theme and song was chosen by choreographers Daniel Wiles and Leon May. They came to WCHS about three times to teach the performance to Portz and the Guard. Portz had the choreographers before, when she was in high school, so they got along very well. As coach, it's Portz's job to help the Guard execute the performance to their full potential and work on facial expressions and the dance.

The WCHS Winter Guard is in Class AA. Classes are based on ability, not school size.

If the WCHS Winter Guard wants to make it to state and win, Portz said it depends on how hard the girls work and their dedication.

This is Portz's first year as the Guard coach, but her sister coached the Guard last year. Portz attends Manchester College. She was in color and winter guard herself in high school and took 16 years of dance. She danced at Deb Collier's School of Dance. [[In-content Ad]]