INDIANAPOLIS — Clasping hands, the 147 members of Greenfield-Central High School’s marching band stood side by side on the Lucas Oil Stadium field — heads bowed — as the top 10 finishers in this year’s state band finals were announced in reverse order Saturday afternoon.
The close-knit crew threw their hands in the air and erupted in cheers when their band’s name was announced in third place.
“There were a lot of smiles and a lot of happy tears, including my own,” said Wendy Trissel, one of the many band parents who helped out with Saturday’s performance, pushing equipment and props around the field.
Fractions of a point separated the band’s score from the first place finisher — Jasper High School — among schools competing in Class B based on school enrollment.
Ten schools in each of the four separate classes competed at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, Nov. 5, with Greenfield-Central performing just after 3 p.m.
The Cougar Pride, as the band is known, came away state champs among Class B schools in 2019 and again in 2021 after not competing in 2020 when the contest was canceled due to COVID.
Even though they narrowly missed claiming a third straight championship, band boosters say the students couldn’t have been more thrilled with their performance.
Drum major Lynsey Kojima, 16, had nothing but positive things to say as the Cougars celebrated on the field.
“She was telling me just how happy they were with their third-place win because they felt like they competed well and had a great run,” said Trissel, Lynsey’s mom. “She just couldn’t say enough about how happy she was.”
Multiple parents said the band members have learned their positive attitude from band director Chris Wing, who ran up and down the line of band members, handing out high fives after the band’s third-place finish was announced.
“I can’t say enough good things about that man,” said Lee McKinnon, whose daughter Lindsey, 16, and son Joseph, 14, are both in the band.
“He’s constantly encouraging students and pushing them to do better,” she said. “He teaches them that it’s not about where they place, but the growth that they have from competition to competition. It’s always about getting better each time and learning from it and just developing their skills and making them better people.”
Kristen Fralich said the best part of being a Cougar Pride band parent is watching the work ethic and responsibility Wing instills in each student.
“More than anything, I just love watching them grow and mature, and watching them learn how to treat others. It’s just been an invaluable experience,” said Fralich, whose son Samuel, 18, plays alto sax with the band.
Saturday’s third place finish was an emotional one for Fralich, whose son will graduate this year.
“It was definitely bittersweet in all capital letters,” she said. “I woke up crying and cried the entire day. Being part of the band is like being a part of a family. It’s been so wonderful for my kids,” she said.
Fralich has been a “band mom” ever since her 24-year-old daughter, Abby, first joined the band’s color guard in 2012.
That’s the same year Wing was hired on to lead the band.
Wing said this year’s show, “Godspeed,” was “more difficult and more intellectual” than anything the band had ever done under his direction.
“It is a show about travel, more specifically time travel. It has been a blast to design, teach and watch the students grow into,” said Wing, who couldn’t say enough about how well the band performed at the state finals.
“The students have been wonderful to work with all year, but Saturday they were on another level. The week leading into state finals was our best week of practice all year, and it showed on Saturday afternoon,” he said.
Considering the elite level of competition at this year’s state finals, hosted by the Indiana State School Music Association, Wing was elated with how the band finished.
“I understand our previous championships have changed people’s expectations as the bar was raised, but looking at this group objectively and comparing them against the quality of the other schools in our class, finishing third is an amazing accomplishment that shouldn’t be overlooked,” he said.
“The last three weeks, we have improved more than we ever have at this time of the year. I have no doubt we’ll be even better this weekend at the Bands of America Grand Nationals.”
That competition takes place Nov. 10-11 at Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Cougar Pride will perform at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, competing against other marching bands from around the country.
After that, the band’s competitive season will come to an end, although some members will continue to play in the school’s jazz band.
Trissel said she couldn’t imagine a more fitting ending to the year than the band’s formidable finish at last weekend’s ISSMA state finals. Even more impressive than the band members’ performance was seeing how excited they were for the other bands.
“It’s fun to watch our kids’ enthusiasm for every school that performed,” said Trissel. “The kids from Jasper, the winning school, were standing right next to us in the stadium as the winners were announced, and after they won many of our kids were going over there to congratulate them and talk to their band director. They were genuinely excited for them. Nothing makes a parent prouder than that,” she said.
