In its first competitive run-through of its entire 2011 show, the Wareham Winter Color Guard defeated Somerset with a score of 74.8 out of 100 to the Raiders' 63.4 at Dartmouth High School on Saturday, February 26.

"They were fabulous today," said Color Guard director Annmarie Churchill, who was beaming after the show.

The team improved its score by nearly an entire point over its debut before judges at Billerica Senior High School the week before, when it performed just a portion of its show, which was unfinished at the time. That's no small feat in a competition that sometimes has first-place and second-place winners coming within tenths of points of each other.

The guard is judged on dancing, how it uses equipment, overall choreography, and the general effect of the show.

Wareham's guard, which consists of both middle and high school students, practiced from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. every day of last week's winter break to whip the show into shape. This year's program has the girls dancing, twirling, and tossing to pop star Pink's "Glitter in the Air". (There's no shortage of glitter in the show, from the girls' uniforms to their sparkling flags.)

"All the hard work from the past week of practice really paid off," said instructor Kimmy Marshall. But, she added: "There's a lot more to do."

The guard competes at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham on March 12, Mansfield High School on March 19, and Melrose Senior High School on March 26, before ending its season at the New England Winter Guard Championships at Reading Memorial High School on April 3.

The hardworking guard is completely self-funded, and must raise more than $10,000 to cover uniforms, equipment, show fees, transportation costs, and staff for each competitive season.

Though the performances are all out of town, instructors said they hope the group's success will draw more members of the Wareham community to upcoming competitions.

"I would love to see more support at the next show," Churchill said.

For more information about the Wareham Winter Guard, visit the group's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/warehamcg.