The Color Guard Solo Ensemble took place on April 22 at Saginaw High School. Seniors Christopher Yu and Magdalena Gonzalez advanced to the state competition with a score of 92 division one. 

“We ended up scoring 92,” Gonzalez said, “which is really good because if you score over a 90, you get a division one rating, which is the highest rating you can get, which means we also are able to qualify for state and we end up going to state which is all stars on May 13.”  

They have both started preparing as state is just around the corner.  

“We don’t really know where it’s going to be, but we know that we’re going to compete against everybody, basically everybody in Texas who did a division one rating,” said Gonzalez.

Putting together effective choreography and planning everything to fit in with their ideas, they developed nostalgia as their theme.

“We had a past director whose name is Mr. Madrid,” Yu said. “When he left, you know, were the last two of his students. We decided to [use] music that he used to do in a show and just use part of the soundtrack as our show. Our show is titled ‘Forever Young.’ The song’s called ‘Young and Beautiful’ by Lana del Ray. It’s a really beautiful song. That’s why we can put choreography that matches with that music.”

Both Gonzalez and Yu spent time and effort to perfect their show and make the tosses happen at the perfect instance. 

“And then like those big moments, we have the big tosses, right rifle or flag,” Yu said. “So yeah, that’s what added to the visuals.”

They really felt the movement in the moment when they performed their show in front of the audience. 

“We usually take [a part in] the song, like how she goes, ‘I know you will.’ It was a very long, deep emotional moment,” Gonzalez said, “so we did like a big toss where you put attention on whatever equipment we’re using.”

Sharing a unique friendship and making it to state was very rewarding for them both. 

“You know, we are the only two seniors in Color Guard,” Gonzalez said, “so I mean, it kind of meant a lot to us to be able to make stay friends”

They both stayed optimistic and had courage that carried them to state. 

“We saw previous shows that had made division one rating,” Gonzalez said, “and we’re like, okay, well, we think that we’re at least you know, at the same level as everybody in a little bag so you know, we were pretty confident and able to make state.”