Balanced on crutches after suffering an injury in a previous round of the state band contest, Greenfield-Central’s Jessica Baker is overcome with emotion after the Marching Pride is named state champion.
By Tom Russo| Daily Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — They did it again.
Standing on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium with the nine other bands who had all just performed at the state finals, the Cougar Pride Marching Band and Guard erupted in cheers when the announcer said, “The Class B Champion is,” after a pause, “Greenfield-Central High School!”
Not only were the Cougars on the field jumping for joy, their fans and supporters in the stands were just as thrilled as G-CHS, under the leadership of program director Chris Wing, defended its title as the best marching band in the state in the Open Class B division.
“The kids were fantastic as usual,” Wing said. “It’s a pretty amazing feeling, especially considering everything we’ve all gone through.”
The Cougar Pride band, with some 150 members, performed a show called “rAMPed Up, a performance they’d worked on since summer and perfected heading into state. The band was one of 10 that competed in Open Class B in the 48th Indiana State School Music Association State Finals on Saturday, Nov. 6. New Palestine High School, appearing in the state finals for the first time since 2007, finished ninth in the group.
The Cougar Pride band also won a state title in 2019 before last year’s contest was canceled due to COVID, giving them the right to claim back-to-back state titles.
Wing noted young people aren’t always equipped to process and adapt the way most adults have done during the pandemic.
He said a lot of students even have troubling remembering what a typical school experience is like. But winning state shows kids can push through adversity.
“It wasn’t a perfect performance, and we knew it,” Wing said. “It’s a gratifying feeling to know you can not be perfect, but still good enough to win.”
Senior bass drum player Maddox Hiner said it was a great feeling winning back-to-back state titles after all the hard work and effort.
“The performance felt great, and afterwards I felt very satisfied with what everyone had done,” Maddox said.
Maddox thanked the crowd and even their bus driver, who pepped them up on the way to Lucas Oil Stadium. The stadium, the driver told them to ease their anxiety, is their house.
Wing said he’s always proud of the band members. His pride in them has never been dictated by competitive success, but is driven by the way they handle themselves; the way they work; and the way they support each other through good times and bad, he said.
“We had two different spots of our show that had some issues we haven’t had in a long time,” Wing said. “But it didn’t rattle them — they figured out on the fly how to fix it and keep moving.”
Jon Carney, director of the New Palestine Marching Dragons, also praised the musicians’ poise. He couldn’t help but notice the emotions on their faces, but he thinks they handled being in the state finals really well and was thrilled with their efforts.“That they were able to grow as much as they did this year is really reflective of some wonderful leadership from our juniors and seniors,” Carney said, noting more than 40% of the band members were rookies.
“I think more than nerves there was a sense of excitement at reaching an event that had been elusive to the ensemble for so long,” Carney said.
Once the performance started he said, everyone could tell the Marching Dragons were focused. Their performance of their show, called “Riddle Me This,” was the 73-member band’s strongest of the season, he said.
“The excitement and exhaustion on the performers’ faces as we left the field is something I’ll remember for a long time,” Carney said.
As a whole, he hopes everyone learned just how much marching band means to those who participate and to those who support the programs.
Wing paid a compliment to the Dragons and all the bands competing at state and said of the 10 bands that performed, any of them would have been worthy champions.
“Knowing that we were the best of that group is an amazing accomplishment, and one I know I will remember forever,” he said.
Joseph Woodburn, a senior for the Cougar Pride who plays the marimba, said winning state again seems surreal.
“It still hasn’t hit me,” Joseph said Monday morning. “We’ve worked hard for so long, more so for the performance than the reward, and getting to state was surprising as we didn’t know what we were doing was great. We were just doing it because we wanted to have fun with the music.”
Wing said his bands will never talk about winning, but will drive home the importance of working hard.
“We talk about working hard until the job is done,” he said.
And the Cougar Pride band isn’t finished competing just yet.
It is set to take part in the Grand National Championships slated for next weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Bands of America Grand National Championships is considered America’s premier marching band event. Registration is open to all high school marching bands and is a celebration of musical excellence that also includes an expo designed with marching music performances in mind.
The three-day event opens with preliminary and semi-finals action Thursday and Friday and then a finals event on Saturday, Nov. 13. The event is expected to have a maximum of 118 participating bands. The Cougar Pride will perform in the preliminary round at 12:15 p.m. Friday.
