The marching band, Knight Pride, had their last com- petition on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The competition was held at FHHS, and the band
placed second in their division for preliminaries. Their score increased by four points in finals, placing them fifth out of 22 bands. According to members of the band, this was one of their best performances this past season since they didn’t have a reason to hold anything in.
“It was our last performance, we didn’t have anything to save it for,” saxophone section leader Sammie Savala said. “By the end of the performance, we were all hugging and crying. It was just a really cool and emotional experience.”
Throughout the season, the band racked up many awards, including a first place and several caption awards. According to senior band member Chris Steimel, the band did amazingly well this past season, especially considering the Knight Pride band is relatively small, made up of just 74 students, which is significantly smaller than some other schools’ numbers.
“We did great this past season, especially when our size is considered into that,” Steimel said. “We were up against bands almost three times our size this past season, and we scored higher than them. I think that shows our true skill.”
The marching band aspect of Knight Pride was not the only side that did well. Color Guard this season had some expectations to live up to with their placement in last year’s Winter Guard International Finals. Color Guard received many awards as well this past season, including best overall auxiliary at Belleville East, O’Fallon Township, and Central Methodist University.
“I think we only received Best Overall Auxiliary three times because there weren’t many color guard judges this year,” Sid- ney Sheridan, junior color guard member, said. “I’m looking forward to next season because I’m looking forward to a new show and the new work that comes with it. I’m also looking forward to the challenges that the new show brings along.”
As this season ends, the band members must say farewell to all of the seniors. There will be 18 seniors leaving this year. According to Savala, the seniors will definitely be missed, although she hopes that they can find more members for next season with the upcoming freshman class.
“I feel like what I’ve done here is really going to help me in the future,” Senior Battery Section Leader Jacob Lesinski said. I’m definitely going to miss the family atmosphere. We just all got along, we didn’t let anything get in the way of us.”
