marching

Submitted photo and press release:

The Batavia High School Winter Guard won First Place in Scholastic A Division at the North East Color Guard Circuit Championship on Saturday in Orchard Park.

It was their first competition since being promoted to the division.

Last spring, the Batavia High School Winter Guard won First Place in A1 class, so they were promoted to the next highest class this year -- Scholastic A.

Practices for the season began in October and the members have been working hard -- more than 12 hours per week -- to prepare for Saturday's competition.  

They took on two other groups that have been competing at the Scholastic A level for years. But at the end of the night, BHS placed first with a score of 59.75. 

The Batavia Scholastic A guard consists of 13 girls in grades seven through 12, who all have several years of marching experience. Their 2020 show is “As We Grow Together."

Batavia also has a Cadet Guard that competed in Orchard Park in Cadet class and the young ensemble scored 38.93. The BHS Cadet Guard consists of nine girls in grades four through nine and their show this year is called “Kaleidoscope.” 

Both guards are scheduled to perform in five shows before championships in March.

Batavia High will host a show at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15.

A total of 18 color guards from Western New York and Ontario, Canada, are scheduled to attend next month's event. Batavia and Medina will each have performance ensembles there and the public is cordially invited.

BHS is located at 260 State St. in the City of Batavia.