On February 3, 2018,  Midlothian Winterguard competed in its first competition at the Atlantic Indoor Association, hosted at Spotsylvania High School. They won first place in the Colorguard Scholastic Regional A2 category against seven other high schools competing at that level. The Midlothian team started recruiting for this season directly following the end of marching band around mid-November. In December, after the newest additions had been added, and they had caught up on the routines, the team started to learn its competition show.  

The Midlo Winterguard team had never won 1st place in a competition, so their victory sets a new precedent. This win acts as a staple of competition to other teams and provides even more incentive to work harder and maintain their title. They have three more competitions before the conclusion of the season. Will they pull through and win more titles? Learning the steps for these complicated routines is difficult, but frequent practice makes perfect.  Jozie Perry comments: “The routine is never fully learned. Throughout the season [we] continue to add choreography and change things based on the judges comments.” She adds, “Overall, color guard requires a lot of bravery and confidence because it’s really scary and confusing when you first start, but once you get the hang of it, the different moves come naturally.”.

After all the teams had competed, the judges announced the placing, the score, and the school. Everyone sat together on the bleachers of the gym, holding hands and their breath, as they listened to the judges. When second place was announced, everyone sat back for a second and thought, “Wait a second, did we just get first place?” They then called the Midlo team for first place. Team members cried and hugged each other in excitement and gratification because “[They] had been working so hard for that.” Congrats, Midlo Winterguard!