When the Scotland High School Winter Guard ensemble was promoted due to their exceptional performance earlier in the season from the Scholastic AAA designation to the more challenging Scholastic AA designation, they were surprised.

After what happened this past weekend, the girls were simply astounded.

Following a 67.90 point performance, which was good for first place in their Scholastic AA competition group at the Sumter, SC Carolina Winter Ensemble Association competition, the girls of the ensemble, along with coordinator Ashley Norton, were told that they would be promoted again, this time to the difficult Scholastic A level.

The Scholastic A level is one of the most competitive in the CWEA, and considering the Scotland High School-based girls began their year in the AAA classification, their ascension from AA to A is being called by Norton and SHS Bands Director Mark Doerffel nothing short of remarkable.

"I was very pleased the first time they were promoted -- I thought it was fantastic," said Doerffel. "I was truly shocked when they were promoted again."

According to Doerffel, the girls of the group felt the same way.

"They were proud of themselves, but at the same time, they were having the same thoughts I was, realizing that they are now playing with a completely different class of groups and that they must now bring their 'A' game."

Norton also described the surprise as "shock" and went on to say that, while "it's going to be harder" in the tougher group, "the girls are excited ... (and) ready for the challenge."

"We'll have to work harder," she added.

The high school girls were not the only ones competing, and succeeding at the Sumter competition.

The Scotland Prep group, also called the "novice" ensemble, managed to take first place in the Scholastic Regional A grouping with a score of 62.10. The Scotland Prepsters are less experienced than their high school counterparts, but have been performing just as well in their classification.

Also doing well at the competition were the Scotland Cadets, a group comprised entirely of middle school aged guard members. The cadets took second place in the cadet grouping, with a score of 47.30, behind only the cadet group from Myrtle Beach (51.80).

The promotion system used by winter guard competition associations is intended to create a fair competitive environment and, as Doerffel puts it, avoid having a single winter guard group "completely rocking and socking everyone else." Promotion is based on relative performance and once a group is promoted, there is no going back down.

At the beginning of the season Doerffel and Norton, along with the other winter guard overseers, evaluated the high school group and decided that the "best place for them based on their experience was AAA."

"The girls have done a wonderful job of coming together and excelling," said Doerffel, explaining the group's tendency to exceed expectations.

"I'll attribute (their success) to their work ethic and to the work ethic of their instructors."

There are 19 girls in the cadet group, 17 in the novice group and 10 in the high school group.

The girls will be participating in the two-part Miss Scotland Pageant, with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The high school group will compete again in Atlanta at the Winter Guard International Super Regional from March 6-8.

For those looking to see the Scotland ensembles in action, all three groups will be competing alongside other top groups in the "Tartan Celebration" held at Scotland High School on March 14.