Marlborough marchers get into stride

Marlborough's champion Shontae marching teams are off to strut their stuff on the national stage next week.

The under-12 and under-16 teams took out their respective Marlborough titles last week and will compete at the marching nationals in Rotorua.

Both teams have already excelled on a higher stage, the under-12s winning division two at the South Island championships earlier in the season and the under-16 team fourth in technical and third in the display discipline.

Shontae coach Julia Allen said her squad had trained hard for several months in preparation for the nationals.

The event opens on Thursday with a street match followed by qualifying on Friday.

From the qualifying, teams are placed in divisions.

Each team does the same technical display, then does its own display routine.

- The Marlborough Express