Marching band finishes season with right angle

After a long month of intense rehearsals and consecutive competitions with its show Sacred Geometry, the marching band saw the season come to an end last weekend, and again the music room’s counters overflow with trophies.

The group took part in three competitions in a row on Nov. 1 in Dublin, Nov. 8 in Long Beach and on Nov. 15 in Union City.

The band competed against 5A Division bands including Foothill High, James Logan High, Amador Valley High and Mountain View High at the Dublin competition. The band took home first place in percussion and tied for first in general effects with James Logan, which has one of the area’s top programs.

The group departed for Long Beach to compete in the Bands of America Regional Competition the following Friday. Under the rough SoCal heat, the band struggled, but still put in their best effort.

“The weather was well over 80 degrees in the direct sun,” said junior drum major Katie McLaughlin. “Unfortunately, this difficult weather condition as well as any performance nerves and a short warm-up time caused an off mentality in the band.”

Morale was low, but the band held hope of making the top 10 and advancing into the finals round.

“I wasn’t exactly sure,” said drum major senior Josh Pi. “Although our performance was decent, it’s hard to say if it would have placed us because there were some really good bands there from Arizona and others states. We weren’t able to see all their shows, so it was a toss-up.”

Despite the weak start with the preliminary round, the band marched onto the field and by the end of their performance, received a standing ovation.

Standing on the field in neat rows of seven, the band was awarded fifth place among the top 10; first place went to Ruben S. Ayala High located in Chino Hills, which scored first at BOA 2013 as well.

To close the season, the band performed at James Logan on Nov. 15 and won first in music effects and second place overall with Amador Valley scoring first.

“I felt initial disappointment about our placement, but a score’s just a score,” senior trombonist Sameer Iyengar said. “It doesn’t reflect the time, effort and energy put into the production. The last moments of our performance were surreal, and I’ll never forget the feeling of it.”

With the season over, the seniors are reluctant to say goodbye to marching band.

“It’s sad that I’m done with four years and 2,112 hours of my life that I will never get to relive,” senior tenor-saxophonist Vivek Murthy said. “I will never be able to redo the adventures we had on all the competitions, hotel rooms and bus trips across the country with the same group of people ever again.”