GOSHEN — Elkhart County bands had a strong showing at the ISSMA State Marching Band Finals Saturday in Indianapolis with NorthWood High School placing highest of the four bands, bringing home third place in Class C.
Saturday’s competition, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, consisted of the 10 top bands from across the state in each class.
NorthWood Director Eric Criss, reflecting on his band’s performance Sunday afternoon, said he was thrilled with the performance and couldn’t be happier for his students.
“We are feeling very good,” Criss said of the competition. “We’re thrilled with the results and thrilled with our level of performance that day, and it was an exciting and very memorable weekend for everyone involved.”
As for the particulars of the performance, Criss said it seemed like everything came together smoothly, with no surprises.
“As far as state finals go, anything can happen, but with that in mind, it was a pretty smooth day, and things were clicking,” he said. “It was just a good day. The kids were excited throughout the whole process. And at that level of competition, everybody’s good, so it’s always just a privilege to be there, and to be among that group and finish in the top three, it’s an honor among honors. So we’re pretty happy.”
Also turning out a solid performance in Class C Saturday were the Fairfield Marching Pride, who ended up taking seventh in the competition.
“It was a culmination of everything we’d worked for up until that point, and the kids really put it all out there, and it was really cool to see them perform their hearts out,” said Fairfield Director Max Johnson of the competition. “We prepared them really well I think, and the kids were really focused, and they just had the best run they’d had so far this season. So it was everything we’d worked for, and everything ran the way we’d hoped it would.”
Class B
In Class B action, the Northridge Marching Raiders took home the fourth-place trophy while the Concord Marching Minutemen finished a solid fifth.
Northridge Director Brad Zook said his band’s performance of the show was their best effort of the year.
“Musically they just played so well,” he said of the final performance. “It was the best they’d every sounded, and really the best they’d ever looked. So really it was the best they every been. We were thrilled.”
Concord Director Scott Spradling said his band students really hit their stride on the stadium floor Saturday, turning out a stellar performance despite the newness and nerves associated with playing in such an unusual location.
“We thought the students performed at their highest level of the season, and of course they had prepared all week for it, so we were hoping for them to just show signs of their hard work, and that they would put on a really good performance,” he said of the competition. “Obviously that’s a very high-pressure situation, and also quite a different experience for the kids to perform inside like that, in a really much larger stadium than they ever go near. So there are a lot of factors involved that add to the scariness of the performance, and they did a really good job with that, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with their efforts in the performance.”
Link to Goshen News article: http://www.goshennews.com/news/local_news/state-finals-northwood-ranks-highest-of-four-local-bands/article_5f143f14-88ae-57ef-a26f-84cd27cd9b2f.html