It’s Jan. 30 at 3:04 PM. The opening notes to WOODKID’s song, “I Love You” begins to play over the sound system as the Howell winter guard begins their performance MCCGA competition at Mascoutah High School.

Once the competition is over, the results were announced with Howell taking first in their division.

“We all had a great time at the competition,” senior Alexa Jones said. “We finished first in our division, and because of that, we’ve been bumped up to the next division. It felt great to have all of our hard work pay off, but we still have a long ways to go.”

Winter guard is scheduled to compete next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12 and 13, in Kansas City at the Winter Guard International regional competition.