Santa Clara Color Guard Wins World Championship

Santa Clara Color Guard Wins World Championship

Undefeated Vanguard takes Winter Guard International Championship

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recently, the Santa Clara Vanguard winter color guard captured their first Winter Guard International (WGI) World Championship in Dayton, OH. The Vanguard finished the 2009 season undefeated and is the first Bay Area world champion since 2003. Their victory came after three days of preliminary competition at the University of Dayton Arena, which saw more than 200 indoor color guards from the US, Canada, Europe and Japan vying for a world championship gold medal.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/DC01361 )

The Vanguard won the gold with a score of 97.1 out of a possible 100 points, after winning Friday's preliminary round with a score of 96.4. The Santa Clara unit bested the silver medalist Corona color guard from Corona, CA (95.9) and the bronze medalist Aimachi guard from Nagoya, Japan, (95.6). The Vanguard has been competing in the WGI Circuit for four years and finished fourth at the 2008 championships. Their 2009 performance was entitled 'The Kiss.' The Vanguard winter guard is a program sponsored by the Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps of Santa Clara.

The 2009 edition of the Santa Clara Vanguard winter guard featured twenty-one performers. They are from the communities of Santa Clara, Campbell, Los Gatos, Fremont, San Jose and Union City and many received their initial color guard training while attending local high schools.

Indoor color guards are comprised of 12 to 30 members and compete on weekends throughout the winter, usually in high school or college gymnasiums before thousands of spectators, performing to pre-recorded music and using movement training and equipment skills on flag, rifle and saber to achieve effects with color, body movement, intricate drills and patterns. Each performance is about seven minutes long and the competitive season runs from January to April, leading to the world championships for various levels divided by skill and age, hosted by Winter Guard International (WGI) at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, OH.

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Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/DC01361
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Santa Clara Vanguard

CONTACT: Jeff Fiedler of Santa Clara Vanguard, +1-773-791-7907

Web Site: http://www.scvanguard.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment