At 11 a.m. last Sunday, campus was quiet.

Most students were still asleep, tired from their Saturday night festivities.

The White Building was an exception.

"Are we ready to do some work?" Pat Mclaughlin (senior-vocal performance) said.

The resounding "yes" from the 12 people gathered in front of him was enthusiastic. They are members of the Eclipse indoor winter guard.

The entirely student-run group performs routines using flags, rifles, and sabres set to music. They compete with other guards across the country and made it to the Winter Guard International championships last spring.

The Eclipse indoor color guard finished their two-week audition process last Sunday, beginning a semester of weeks with nine hours of rehearsal each.

"It's a huge time commitment," President Danielle Fenster (senior-business management) said. "Our members have other stuff going on, but they know how to manage their time."

With such a heavy practice schedule, it's hard to imagine that the students can get anything else done.

"I don't sleep," Laura Adshead (sophomore-architecture) said. "I make myself come, though. It's a good stress relief."

Mclaughlin picks the music for the guard's shows and choreographs the routines.

"I try to create something that's toward everyone's ability level," he said. "I want to make it interesting and fun, but also challenging for both them and me."

During the rehearsal, Mclaughlin taught everybody one of his routines. He sped through each step, spinning a flag and teaching the students by example.

"We want to see how fast they can learn it without having to totally break everything down," he said.

Afterward, the group worked under Chris Crebs (graduate-hotel, restaurant and institutional management), who slowed the pace and focused on the details of the group's performance.

"This is how it usually works," Mclaughlin said. "I choreograph everything, and he runs through the techniques of it."

Many of the students in the guard became involved in Eclipse because of their previous experience with color guard.

"I was in an indoor guard in high school," Michelle Bertolasio (junior-secondary education) said. "We went to some of the same competitions that Eclipse goes to."

One of the members performed with a Drum Corps International drum and bugle corps as part of the color guard.

"I marched The Cadets this summer," Chris Melani (junior-biology) said. "We won the national championship, so that's pretty cool."

The bonds that Eclipse members have with one another take their relationship beyond a bunch of people who perform together.

"We go out to eat after practice and hang out on the weekends," Fenster said. "We're close friends because we spend every weekend together in the spring semester."

Mclaughlin said Eclipse is unique because most instructors aren't the same age as the group they teach, and it helps to be on the same level.

"Sometimes, I'll have to yell at them; once we leave the rehearsal room, we're all friends," he said.