On Saturday, March 7th, the Penn Varsity 1 Winter Guard traveled down to Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis to perform their show, Smooth Criminal. They finished with a season-best 73.52 to pave their way to state finals.
From the 30 guard teams who competed, only 19 would go on to take the floor at state. The Penn team of 20 girls, ranging from freshmen to seniors, anxiously waited to hear if they would have one more chance to show the judges what they were made of.
“I always feel super confident during the season…but when prelims comes along, it hits you that it could be your last performance.”, says one of the five seniors, Aly Abel.
However, letting this performance be their last wasn’t an option.
Penn placed 2nd in their round with their best score of the season, 73.52, and advanced to state finals.
Guard director, Jen Buckholz tells us, “I was beyond proud.”
State finals will be held this Saturday, March 21st, at Center Grove High School in Indianapolis. Penn will perform at approximately 2:51 PM for their last performance of the season.
Congratulations to the girls on a job well done this season and good luck at state.
PNN will bring you more next week about the state experience and this year’s season.
Since the publishing of this story, Penn travelled to Center Grove High School and went on to take 9th place out of 19 guards, with a top season score of 77.69. Congratulations on a successful season.
Mikan Gensic 
Nathan Zizzo