Local marching bands celebrate success at state contests

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    GREENFIELD — Chris Wing tries not to take the feeling for granted.

    Monday morning, he and about 40 other marching band directors from around the state toured Lucas Oil Stadium in preparation for a climactic contest that will take place Saturday. Greenfield-Central High School’s marching band will once again venture to Indianapolis to compete in the Indiana State School Music Association’s State Finals.

    Cougar Pride Marching Band placed in the top 10 in Class B during the ISSMA open class semifinal contest Saturday, ensuring their advancement to the state finals for the second time in three years.

    Monday morning, Wing, the band’s director, visited the stadium with some colleagues from the around the state to discuss preparations for the upcoming contest. That included a visit to the field, Wing said, and all the excitement that comes with it.

    Only a week’s worth of practices separates his students from this pinnacle high school marching band contest, this one final performance where they can show off months of hard work and dedication.

    “It’s something special,” Wing said.

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    Cougar Pride Marching Band was one of three county teams to participate in state contests over the weekend.

    The New Palestine High School marching band, the Marching Dragons, competed against the Cougars Saturday in the semifinals at Pike High School in Indianapolis; but the Dragons did not place high enough to advance to the upcoming state finals.

    Instead, they’ll set their sights on the Mid-States Band Association Championships — a contest this weekend in Ohio that brings together marching bands from across the Midwest, director Shawn Humphries said.

    Mt. Vernon High School’s Band of Marauders hosted and competed in the Scholastic Class State Finals Saturday in Fortville. This contest is based on band size and school enrollment, unlike the one in which New Palestine and Greenfield-Central competed, in which bands are separated into classes based solely on school size.

    The Marauders earned a fifth-place trophy for their efforts Saturday against 13 other bands. It was a great way to finish a competition season that Mt. Vernon’s band director Jackie Nason said was full of unmatched effort and enthusiasm from her students.

    The Scholastic Class State Finals was originally scheduled for Oct. 20 at Lawrence Central High School; but the contest was cancelled at the last minute when Lawrence Central lost power in a wind storm.

    Mt. Vernon stepped in to be host when the event was rescheduled for a week later. The last-minute adjustment required band parents and Mt. Vernon staffers to step up and put in hours of extra work to ensure Saturday’s contest went off without a hitch — an effort Nason said she’s grateful for.

    Nason, who is in her first year as director of Mt. Vernon’s band, hoped having a home-field advantage would boost her marching band to a victory.

    The Band of Marauders has qualified for the Scholastic Class State Finals five years in a row. This year’s 101-member band for the first time includes middle school students and was led by nine seniors, making it a fairly young band overall.

    That gives Mt. Vernon a lot to look forward to in the future, Nason said. Having so many young students involved opens the door to building a strong program in the coming years.

    Humphries estimated his 86 band and color guard students put in more than 300 hours of practice time preparing for Saturday’s semifinals.

    He starts planning the next school year’s show as early as January, writing music, deciding on a theme and lining up visual artists and choreographers who can help make the show a reality. Then rehearsals begin over the summer and a week-long band camp takes place in July where daily practices run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    The months that follow are filled with more rehearsals and Friday night football game half-time performances that serve as further practice, Humphries said. It all leads up to the ISSMA regional and semi-state contests and a few other competitions sprinkled in between.

    Heading into Saturday’s semifinals, Humphries was remaining optimistic. His Marching Dragons would be competing against bands much larger than their own — Greenfield-Central’s marching band is in the same class and has 165 members, for example — and scoring can be very subjective. There isn’t a set scoresheet or point-awarding system; judges can use that discretion in deciding who comes out on top.

    Greenfield-Central is heading into Saturday’s state finals hoping to build on years of success.

    The second-place win in 2016 was the best placement the band has ever received in the state contest; they earned ninth place in 2014 and eighth place in 2005. The 2015 and 2017 seasons ended in disappointment, with the band not making it to the state competition.

    Those missed state-finals placements were close and turned out to be learning experiences, Wing said. His students learned how to react and how to build themselves up again after suffering disappointment.

    At state contests, whether it’s the semifinals or the finals, the Cougar Pride Marching Band tries not to compare itself to others on the field. Instead, they try to be as perfect in their show as they can be.

    So as they prepare for finals over the next week, they’ll keep striving for that perfection, Wing said, pushing each other forward and putting in whatever extra effort is needed.

    All three band directors say they take pride in the family atmosphere that underlines their programs.

    Mt. Vernon freshman Luke Suárez joined marching band after moving into the district over the summer. It was like walking into a group of ready-made friends, he said, and he’s eager to see what the future holds for the program.

    Heading into Saturday’s competition, Luke said he felt a sense of nervous excitement.

    He wished people understood the athleticism and mental agility it takes to participate in marching band. The musicians have to move around on the field while keeping time and playing their instruments, he said. That takes a lot of coordination and focus, which is more challenging than people might assume.

    New Palestine senior Evan Wilson agreed with that sentiment, saying he wished people thought of the marching band as more than a football game’s half-time entertainment.

    For the band members, countless hours of practice go into just one moment, one performance that ends in success or failure. Passion drives them, just like any other team, he said.