The Pride of Pattonville participated in their final competition Saturday, October 23. The band earned fourth place in their division, which placed them in the finals. After their second performance, the band placed ninth in the State with an 80.5 out of 100.

Marching Band spent daily class time paying close attention to their playing and mastering the performance. Mr. McFarland, director, said, “You have to get every single member to pay attention to every single detail, every single time.”

Mr. McFarland tried to make rehearsals as intense as performances so when performances did come, it did not feel any different. Their preparation was crucial to making it to finals. Drum Major Hayden Langston, senior, said, “Something I’ve learned over time and heard many times: you don’t win the competition on the day it happens. You win it during the weeks building up to it.”

While practices were crucial, they couldn’t prepare the band members for the overwhelming emotions involved.

“I was prepared for pretty much everything about the competition, but the practices never prepared me for how it felt to be there,” Langston said. Being a senior, it was surreal for him to be at competitions. “I was not prepared for how it would feel to make it to finals on our last run of my last year.”

Music has been the band’s strong suit. Ms. White, one of the directors, said, “All season long they have been consistently good musicians.”

“There were a lot of great things happening with other aspects of our show, like the visuals and the actual marching drill, but I think the music by far was the best,“ Langston agreed.

White described the Pride of Pattonville as a resilient group of students because they had to come to a normal season after a not so normal one.

Mr. McFarland said, “What a terrible word to use because it is so bland, but [it was] amazing..they never complained. They just came here to do it.”

While the emphasis on preparation for competitions was significant, Mr. McFarland explained, “If you can say that you are better today than you were yesterday then that’s all we ask for.”