All three Newtown High School Winter Guard divisions brought home medals at the Musical Arts Conference (MAC) Championships held Saturday, March 28, at the O’Neill Center of Western Connecticut State University.

The awards ceremony kicked off with ten Reed Intermediate School students accepting gold medals and a large First Place trophy from MAC Director Carman Dragone. Instructor Bob Findley was joined by student coaches and Varsity guard members Nina Bonvini,  Makenzie Casey, and Kayleigh Granville in guiding the Junior level guard to victory.

Competing against eight other guards in the Scholastic AA division, Newtown’s Junior Varsity scored an impressive 85.53 to capture a Bronze medal, besting six other varsity-level guards from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey for the girls to take Third Place, despite having lost two members to injury. The Junior Varsity is coached by Mr Findley, ten-year MAC veteran Janos Pergeley, and Varsity Captains Camryn Gaudett, Kelsea Morshuk-Allen, and Paige Thanasoulis.

The Varsity guard ended Newtown’s evening by bringing home Silver, after an emotional and beautifully executed performance that Mr Dragone dubbed “the best show I have ever seen Newtown perform.”

The 16-member Varsity team departed just after midnight on Wednesday, April 2, for the Winter Guard International (WGI) championships in Dayton, Ohio.