Last Saturday at 9:40 a.m. the marching band gathered in the band room, ready for a full day of competitions. They practiced at school for three hours before hitting the road.

“I loved practice,” sophomore Amber Rollins said, “I love everyone in the pit. They’re like a family to me.”

At noon, everyone boarded the buses for the hour long ride to Belleville, Illinois, where they performed their first show. The band placed third with a score of 66.8, less than one point away from placing 1st, and the color guard got the best rating in their division.

“We didn’t stink, we didn’t do great, we just were,” senior Kate Jehle said, reflecting on the way the band played.

The performance went well, but there were a few things that could have gone better.

“In the first show, I think our problem was our focus and not watching the drum major,” sophomore Allie Beckman said.

After the performance, the staff members got together to figure out how to change things for the second performance.

“We just need to work out electronic problems, integrate some things with the pit, and get more comfortable with the transitions,” Band director Jeff Moorman said. “It’s not the performers fault.”

They then drove to their second competition, which was in O’fallon, Illinois. In this performance, the band changed some things that had gone wrong during the first show.

“In O’Fallon we fixed quite a few electronic problems and we figured out the transition (between the 2nd and 3rd songs),” Moorman said. “Our over all energy was better and no one was holding back.”

The band received 4th place with a score of 62 in this performance, and the Color Guard was awarded 1st place in their division.

“I know in the first show we kind of lost our focus, but I think we really came together in the second show,” Beckman said.