From Tuesday, April 8, to Sunday, April 13, the Rancho Cucamonga High School Drumline competed in Dayton, Ohio, in the WGI Championships.
Beginning in the spring of 1977, the WGI Sport of the Arts non-profit youth organization has over 45 years of history helping to “bring music to life through performance in a competitive format,” supporting indoor color guard, percussion, and winds competitions.
On Thursday, April 10, the drumline’s first performance took place at Wright State University Nutter Center. They earned a score of 92.288, which put them in fifth place overall.
Semi-finals were on Friday, April 11, at the Northern Kentucky University Truist Arena. Their show was awarded second place overall with a score of 95.313.
Lastly, the final show took place at the University of Dayton Arena on Saturday, April 12. The drumline won third place overall with a score of 96.075
“Our final performance was great!” said Bass 1 player, freshman Zachary Chau. “While there were some things we could’ve improved on, it’s best to just appreciate how well we did in the end. Getting third place was such a pleasure. We went to WGI for the very first time and won a medal as well as beat other drumlines that have competed in the years before. It’s truly amazing.”
The performers put in a lot of time and effort during practices from Wednesday, April 9, to Friday, April 11. With rehearsals on Wednesdays and Thursdays starting at 10 a.m., and Friday rehearsals starting at 8:30 a.m., many drumline members started their days early by waking up between 6 to 7 a.m.
Despite the early mornings and returning to the hotel late at night, performers pushed through, which earned them their spot of third place in their division nationwide.
This achievement made the trip more memorable for everyone who attended since it was the last performance of the winter season, and many seniors would be graduating soon, leaving the program.
“Our Ohio trip was definitely the biggest highlight of my senior year! It went so incredibly well although it was a bit tiresome,” said one senior, Joshua Lin, who played the guitar and mallets. “I genuinely can’t believe just how much growth we’ve had throughout my time in the drumline, I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my last year at Rancho.”
In addition to this perspective, quad player and percussion captain, senior Salvatore Ancona, shared similar thoughts.
“I think the trip was a perfect close to my marching arts career at Rancho. We made new friends, unforgettable memories, and had a lot of fun,” said Anacona. “The place we won was an incredible accomplishment that most of us didn’t see as possible, which I feel is an accurate representation of all the extremely hard work we’ve put into making this season really great.”
The instructor for the drumline, Mr. Eric Shriver, brought up the idea of taking this trip after the beginning of their fall season.
“I pitched the WGI Champs trip pretty late in the game,” said Shriver in a post on Instagram. “When we started seeing the student leaders and parents support come together at the beginning of Fall, it just felt ‘it was the right time.’”
As the medalists returned home to Rancho Cucamonga, parents and friends awaited them at Ontario International Airport to welcome them back after their five-day trip.
While holding banners, decorated signs, pom poms, and light sticks, the supporters’ loud greetings echoed through the airport lobby as the tired medalists made their way down the stairs around midnight.
