MUSKEGON, Mich. — A winter guard team in Muskegon County is ranked number one in the country, and they're headed to the world championships in a few weeks.
The Reeths-Puffer High School Winter Guard is at the top of their game, setting records for the district.
Inside the cafeteria, the team lays down a mat and gets to work.
"It's performance mixed with athletics," Karina Baldus, section leader and senior, says.
Winter guard is the indoor version of color guard, spinning a flag, rifle or saber to choreography.
"It's a competitive fine art. Some people call it a sport, so I would call it a sport," Greyson Wilder, section leader and senior, says.
The team puts in hours of work per week, spending late nights after school. That hard work is paying off as they're ranked first in the nation in their class of the Winter Guard International.
It's something Wilder says he is so proud of.
"For me, it's about working hard towards something. It definitely taught me how to become a very hard worker," he says. "I like the self improvement aspect of it."
He got started young, inspired after seeing the older kids perform.
"I was in like, fourth grade, the first time seeing it. I was like 'Wow, I really want to do this,'" Wilder says.
Same goes for Gunner Allen, a junior at Reeths-Puffer.
"Just seeing them perform and embody themselves through all this movement and stuff, I was like, 'I want to know how to do that. I wish I could do that,'" he says.
Allen loves the adrenaline of performance. For the big world championship, the team is performing a set called "Dream State," embodying the nostalgia of childhood.
"Just being able to move through music like that is just a feeling you can't get anywhere else," he says.
The team of ten is a close-knit group, which is what Baldus loves.
"We're all so supportive of each other, even though we're competitive with each other. And we all just enjoy it, and we all have worked really hard for it," she says.
Getting these moves right is tough, but that's what makes it rewarding.
"It definitely challenges your athletic abilities in all concepts and just like the amount of time we spend on everything is definitely a lot different than other sports," Baldus says.
The team is entering the world competition next month at the top, and Wilder hopes his classmates recognize that.
"I feel like we could get a lot more especially since we're first in our nation right now," he says.
All three agree, though, they'll be happy with whatever happens.
"I just want us all to do the best that we can. And whatever score we get from that would will be awesome," Baldus says.
Before the world competition, the team has another contest on March 18 at 3:10 p.m. against other West Michigan teams at Jenison High School.
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