Masuk Free Press

On Feb. 1 2025, the Masuk Varsity Color Guard team kicked off their season with the Masuk Classic. The competition, held at Masuk High School, ran from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and featured 22 teams from 16 different schools. 

Masuk Color Guard puts together an annual themed show that they practice from July to January, and perform during competition season, February to April. The team is currently coming from a highly successful season as 2024 MAC champions. Their previous show, Game of Survival, secured the first place spot in the Scholastic AA class.

Due to their victory, Masuk Color Guard switched divisions for their 2025 season, now in the Scholastic A class. Facing new teams and tougher competition, this was certainly a different look for the team, especially due to their small numbers. 

“My team is only nine,” Coach Karyn Knapik said. “It’s always hard when the kids graduate… you get to know them really well, and they become like a core member of the team. This year I have four seniors, so it’s gonna be even more hard hitting at the end of this season.”

However, the team’s size is not necessarily a negative thing. Senior Gabriella Assignon commented, “Going into the season with one of those smaller teams is definitely difficult, but it also can have its benefits. Cleaning work and teaching work can be easier because there’s less people you have to teach it to.”

Masuk Color Guard announced their 2025 theme, Mother, shortly before the Masuk Classic. The show is inspired by mother nature and serves as a warning about environmental destruction. The performance is set to music by violinist Lindsey Stirling, accompanied by voiceovers from actress Julia Roberts about the power and wrath of nature.

“If you keep messing with mother nature, mother nature is gonna mess up with you,” Knapik said. “Essentially, we gotta keep our planet alive or else we’re gonna suffer the consequences. It’s kind of a take on ‘save the environment.’”

This theme was reflected in all aspects of the performance, from the soundtrack to the decorations. The team wore green costumes and makeup, performed on a tan floor, and moved a six-foot tree prop across the floor throughout the show. The opening flags were floral-inspired and the final flag featured an image of a woman’s face, symbolizing mother nature.

Taking their new theme to the Scholastic A Class, the team faced different perspectives and challenges.

“Last season was a bit of an ego boost,” Assignon said. “We were getting that a lot from the judges — that they thought our show was really well developed and really well performed, that maybe we should consider going up a division.” However, this season, the team is in a new situation. “Moving up is definitely a little bit scary because you’re competing against teams that you haven’t competed against in the past, so it just gives you a whole different experience performing and how you’re scored.”

Despite the challenges coming with their first show, the performance taking place at Masuk worked to console the team.

“The energy at Masuk is so much better,” senior Siobhan Riordan said. “There are other schools where it’s dead silent during your entire performance, and no one cheers for anything. At Masuk, you have a lot of friends and family, and also you have JV with you, who is always cheering.” The familiarity of the Masuk gym also made a difference. “It’s a lot easier to spin in your own gym because you know what the ceilings are and you know where the lights are so that you’re not blinded.”

Immediately after the performance, Riordan said, “I don’t think it was our best run. I think the adrenaline got to us… We usually practice in an empty gym, and when there’s a gym full of people, it just adds so much energy and so much anxiety behind it.” 

However, she also acknowledged the positives. “Honestly, for me, I didn’t think it was that bad. Like, I think I could have ate a little bit harder, but like, I ate mildly, which is, you know, good enough. Like, I’m not mad about it.”

The team ultimately placed second in their division — a strong start considering the competition. Looking ahead, they plan to focus on refining their timing and performance quality. 

“I think the biggest thing we need to practice is timing and performance, because I think when we start performing, we start losing our timing completely,” Riordan said. “It’s just a matter of getting used to having an audience and keeping control of yourself while other people are watching you spin.”

However, the team knows that this season is about growth. “We’ve had to kind of up the ante a little bit compared to what we had last year,” Knapik said. “Even though we had some higher-level skills last year, they always told us, ‘Hey, that’s kind of a next-level-up activity.’ So just pushing them a little bit more to try harder stuff that we know they’re capable of but haven’t done in a show before.”

With the Masuk Classic behind them, the team has proven their place in the Scholastic A Division. They will be working on their performance every week leading up to the 2025 Championships, taking place Mar. 29 at Trumbull High School.