The Ambassadors are gearing up for their biggest competition of the season: the Chicagoland Showcase on Mar. 7.

Update: The Accents were Grand Champions in the Unisex division, and the Ambassadors were First Runners-Up in the Mixed division.

According to performing arts teacher John Burlace, the Ambassadors are preparing by “going into a little more detail (in rehearsal) and picking things apart a bit more.”

According to Kathleen Muloma, alto section leader for the Ambassadors and senior, the Ambassadors placed third at their previous competition in Edgewood High School.

“(Third place) was a little disappointing, but it’s fueling us for an even bigger competition in Chicago,” Muloma said. “We’re learning to count on each other more.”

“It went really well for their first time out,” Burlace said. “Especially since most of them haven’t competed before. They worked really hard in the two weeks leading up to it.”

“It’s a different kind of beast than what most of us have experienced, since it’s a new group and many of us haven’t gone to high school competitions,” Muloma said.

“We’re all really competitive, so of course we would like to win, but I think if we go there and leave it on the stage and we’re happy about how we performed, yes, we’d be disappointed if we didn’t place where we’d like to, but I think that would be enough for us,” she said. “One thing that (Burlace) always says is that placing doesn’t really matter to him. It’s more about if he thinks that we’ve done the work to reach our potential. I think that’s a really good mindset to have.”