Lufkin band receives first division at marching contest

October 22, 2009
Filed under Band, News

The Panther Band took the superior rating last week at the Region 21 UIL Marching contest held at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The rating comes from weeks of morning practices and Monday night rehearsals to perfect the seven-minute drill.
“Monday night practices are a good way to get together, learn and work on the fundamentals to succeed at contest,” senior Lacey Harrison said. After spending hours practicing and making everything look perfect, the band felt prepared and ready to get a first division at contest.

After the band’s 8 p.m. performance, the members waited anxiously in the stands for their ratings from the three judges.

“The fact that countless hours of hard work came down to one performance,” senior Courtney Mask said, “was extremely nerve racking.”

The band received a first division rating, which is the highest rating that can be received, by all three of the judges.

And because the band had a perfect score at the marching contest, members decided that they would go to another competition, NAMMB (National Association of Military Marching Bands) Oct. 31 also to be held at SFA.

In this competition, bands in each classification battle each other for first place. 

In class 5A, there are only two bands that Lufkin will compete against, Kingwood High School and Atascocita High School.