Even pouring rain could not drown out the spirit of the winterguard at the WGI San Diego Power Regional at Rancho Bernardo High School on Feb. 27.

This competition featured 42 guards from several states around the country, including Arizona and North Carolina. Out of those groups, the JV guard, placed second in the regional A division. Varsity guard placed ninth.

“I think we did well given the situation because it was pouring rain,” music teacher Duane Otani said. “What was so hard was that we had to get the props from under the bus and take it about half a mile away to the competition site. We had to wait outside before we could go into the gym because other winterguards were inside performing.”

Because of the excessive rain, their warm-up was interrupted.

“Everything and everyone was getting drenched,” Otani said. “We couldn’t finish our warm ups and the whole day was kind of crazy.”

The weather conditions were not practical and made a big impact on the team.

“It was really rainy the entire day, and that took away time to prepare because everything was wet,” junior Nina Mohanty said. “It was difficult to warm up with the rain because later on, the floor became completely wet along with other props. We spent most of our time wiping things with sweatshirts and rags. We didn’t perform as well as we could have and I think the rain was partly to blame.”

However, winning was not the guard’s main reason of traveling nine hours by bus to San Diego to perform. The guard wanted to be educated from the experience of observing the skills and techniques of other guard to improve themselves.

“I think it was a really educational experience for everyone,” Otani said. “They had to learn how to work as a team and deal with the rain because we had to adjust our plans to accommodate to it. Plus, it was really beneficial because everyone got to see some of the best winterguards in the world competing at that regional; it was good for them to learn from watching other groups.”