Weather Finally Thaws for Masuk Colorguard

An instructor led a group of young women, clad in shorts and workout pants, in exercises with sabers on one end of Masuk High School's auxiliary gym Thursday night, while another group twirled flags on the other.

"Dunta! Dunta! Dunta! Squeeze and down two! Down four! Down six! Down eight! Down 30! Drop. Stop," was the mantra heard in the room as the colorguard practiced its timing and techniques.

After an undefeated fall season (6-0), the Lady Panthers recorded a second place finish during a competition in Shelton this winter.

"We've only had one competition so far because of the snow," said Guard Director Karyn Knapik, who had competed in the colorguard as a Masuk student years ago. "Last weekend was canceled."

The 14 athletes, who are in Scholastic A, worked to get the kinks out before a home performance from 4 to 8:30 p.m. this Saturday, when 22 teams from 19 schools will compete.

The Panthers will compete against four of the schools — from Portchester, N.Y.; Brookfield, Jonathan Law and Shelton — and will go on at 7 p.m.

Knapik said middle school teams will also compete, including one made up of Jockey Hollow and Chalk Hill students. They will perform their routine at 4:20 p.m.

UConn's colorguard will perform its routine for the audience at the event, though the university is not competing with anyone. Admission is $8 and $5 for children and senior citizens.

"We're a little nervous, because we didn't have practice the last two weeks," Knapik said. "But I'm very proud of these girls. They work hard. If they do their best, I'm happy."

Captains, seniors Sophie Todeasa and Bernadette Gross and sophomore, Lauren Balestrieri, will try to lead the Lady Panthers to the championships in April, when teams from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey square off.

Colorguards perform a routine, usually about four minutes long, and are judged in several categories, including equipment work, the general effect of the show on the audience, their movement and ensemble (how they work together as a group), according to Knapik. She also said the girls have to show emotion throughout their performance.

Aside from twirling and catching flags and sabers, the colorguard makes military-style moves with rifles. Knapik said the rifles are obviously fake, made of solid wood — but that doesn't make the Lady Panthers soft.

"One captain split her lip during warm ups when a rifle bounced up and smacked her in the face," Knapik said. "We had two concussions, one by a rifle and another by a flag so far. No one was hurt by the saber yet. They were bruised, but they're tough girls."