![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Varsity Color Guard becomes WGI San Antonio Regional Finalist
Senior co-captain Jamie Bailey performs “Endohedral” with the color guard at the Cedar Park Classic competition on Feb.23. According to Bailey, “Endohedral” is darker than past routines the color guard has performed. “For all of winter season we work on perfecting our show which is around four and a half minutes long,” Bailey said. “[The routine] is about being trapped so we use our props almost like the cage [is] trapping us.”
April 5, 2019
After football season, the color guard transitions into winter guard, the competition season for color guard without the band accompanying them.
On Feb. 2, the varsity color guard placed third at the WGI San Antonio Competition finals with a final score of 66.4. The color guard performed their piece titled “Endohedral,” routine that according to senior co-captain Jamie Bailey is darker than past routines they have performed.
“For all of winter season we work on perfecting our show which is around four and a half minutes long,” Bailey said. “[The routine] is about being trapped so we use our props almost like the cage [is] trapping us.”
According to junior Danielle Natera, competitions early in the winter guard season are nerve-wracking due to the lack of performing experience beforehand.
“Once we actually get out there and hear the crowd cheer for us, we feed off their energy and excitement,” Natera said. “The adrenaline kicks in, removing any nervous energy.”
The morning of the competition, the color guard reported to the school at 9:45 a.m. for an hour-long rehearsal and then they traveled almost two hours to Canyon High School in New Braunfels, the location of the competition.
They performed later that day, Bailey said that she was content with the results, despite not getting first.
“I was really happy and proud with how the results turned out,” Bailey said. “[I am] very proud of my team for all the hard work they’ve put in and I can’t wait to just keep getting better.”
Sophomore Emily Chapa said that although she thinks they did well, there is still room for improvement for the team.
“I think we would do better in the future competitions when we become more confident in what we are doing,” Chapa said.
The color guard hosted Cedar Park Classical, a color guard showcase and competition, on Saturday, Feb. 23. The team performed “Endohedral” again and according to Natera, the color guard performed well among the 70 schools who performed.
“We keep improving every week, and I have a feeling that this could be a very good season,” Natera said.
The team captain, senior Ally Hall, said that the color guard’s improvement and overall growth this year is in part due to the expanding middle school color guard program.
“As our guard gets more established, we build a larger vocabulary of skills and tricks,” Hall said. “We took a chance this year by doing a darker show than our usual light-hearted and bubbly shows and it’s really working in our favor.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
