Story and media by Alex Rozar
The Lafayette Lancer Regiment marching band hosted its 31st annual Contest of Champions (COC) marching band competition on Saturday, Sept. 22.
19 high school marching bands came to Lafayette to compete at the event, which was run and organized by LHS staff, students and parent volunteers.
“Marching band has a different breed of people,” freshman alto saxophone player Elena Mendoza said. “It’s awesome being in an environment of nice people who really care about what they’re doing.”
Lafayette did not compete in its own tournament, as is standard in marching band competitions, but the Lancer Regiment did perform an exhibition of its 2018 show “Steps” to the audience in attendance and to the marching judges.
In addition to the Lancer Regiment, members of other LHS organizations like the Key Club and the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) helped out at COC, directing traffic into the parking lot, admitting people into the stadium and selling concessions.
Some music students from Lafayette also volunteered to help through a newly launched music service program called TRI-M.
The competition was divided into a Preliminary round, which lasted from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., and a Final round from 5:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Of the 19 bands, 12 were chosen to advance to Finals during an awards ceremony. The schools were organized into three different classes (White, Black and Gold) based on size.
Two of the schools, Rockwood Summit and Francis Howell Central, swept the Preliminaries in their respective classes, winning both first place and the all of the caption awards for Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual and Outstanding General Effect.
“We weren’t exactly expecting [to sweep], because we didn’t think our Prelims performance was the best, but it was wonderful hearing our name called for all of the captions,” Rockwood Summit junior mellophone player Justin Penberthy said.
“It’s extremely satisfying to work really hard and get something special in return. We earned this,” Francis Howell Central junior mellophone player Brianna Latour said.
At the Preliminary awards ceremony, the list of bands that would advance to Finals competition was read in a randomized order. After the eleventh spot was read, seven different bands, all vying for the final spot, anxiously awaited to hear the last name to be read.
It was Valley High School, who had traveled over six hours from Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the competition. Their student section erupted with cheers.
“The experience was very scary and nerve-racking,” Valley sophomore trumpet player Nate Bell said. “We really wanted it to be us, of course, but it could have easily been someone else. It was pretty exciting.”
As marching bands work to perfect their shows and travel across the nation to perform, many members feel a unique connection to band that is different from other activities.
“I was an athlete in my freshman year, and I just didn’t have that much fun,” Lafayette senior drum major Abby Thompson said. “I had a lot of friends in band and they convinced me to join. I’m still here, senior year, as a drum major. It’s demanding, but I love seeing it all come together.”
“We all work together,” Lafayette senior trombone player Mohammed Arif said. “Marching band develops camaraderie and ensures that no one is left feeling lonely.”
For many marching band members, the connection does not stop there— it extends to the sport and the physical show as well. The Hickman High School Marching Band, for example, has four large scarecrow props for this season’s show— affectionately named Burt, Joseph, Lil Humphrey and Edgar Allan Crow.
“The best part of band is being able to spend time with friends and make beautiful artwork together,” Hickman freshman flute player Aimee Bedy said.
However, the competition is a definite factor as well.
“Experiencing the competitions, meeting new people, that’s fun. Everyone gets excited about that,” Lafayette freshman alto saxophone player Sanjay Analil said.
The Rockwood Summit Silver Falcon Marching Band won the 2018 Contest of Champions with a score of 77.65. They also won all of the caption awards in the Finals, in addition to sweeping the Preliminaries. Rock Bridge placed second and Jefferson City placed third. The full Contest of Champions results can be viewed here.
“It was great,” Rockwood Summit senior drum major Ethan Budge said. “You always go hoping for a victory, and it’s just a great feeling to get it. There’s nothing quite like winning an event like this. Obviously, if you win all three captions, you can be fairly certain that you’re going to get [first place], but it was terrifying when they said ‘Rock-’, because Rock Bridge is also amazing. They easily could have beaten us, and it was just great when they finished out saying ‘Rockwood Summit.’”
“I’m proud of the students,” Rockwood Summit percussion director Peter Repp said. “They had a really good day. They definitely got better, and I’m proud of their hard work this weekend. They have been rehearsing since May. All summer, they spent a lot of time in rehearsal, and then in the fall, they spent a lot of time outside of school rehearsing, and they even between shows went home and rehearsed. We rehearse a lot.”
The Lancer Regiment won first place at the Tiger Ambush Classic in Edwardsville, Illinois on Sept. 15. They will compete next at the Broken Arrow Marching Band Invitational in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma on Oct. 6.
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Photo by Alex Rozar