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The Band Reporter |
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10/17/2004 At the 23rd annual South Plainfield Marching Band Festival, our Marching Mustangs, led by new drum major Zyril Carilo, put on an impressive performance. And the judges certainly agreed, as the Mustangs were the only band in the competition to receive an overall rating of superior, which was something that the Mustangs had never before accomplished at this particular competition. Therefore, they received a trophy for best band in Division III, and the coveted President's Trophy for best overall band, a feat that even topped their amazing performance at the same competition four years earlier, in which they were second overall. This was something that many of the remaining members of that year's band never imagined they would experience again, as the band failed to improve to best overall the following year, and then received a heartbreaking rating of good the next year. However, last year the band once again received an excellent rating, which may have foreshadowed the return of the Mustangs as a force to be reckoned with in the South Plainfield competition. This was only the second time the band has performed this year's entire show (the first being only two nights earlier at a football game at Highland Park), but nevertheless, the band was prepared for the competition, as their production of Pirates of the Caribbean was "superior" to the performances of the other bands, all of whom were given a rating of excellent. Perhaps just as thrilling as winning the President's Trophy was that the Mustangs outperformed Nottingham High School, who failed to defend the title they had held for the last two years, as their performance was given an excellent rating. In addition to being the best overall band in the competition, our exciting percussion section, co-captained by Andrew Du and Brian Jordan, once again met their high expectations, as they continued their dominating dynasty, by receiving the award for best percussion section for the fourth time in the past five South Plainfield competitions. They also won the best percussion award at the Fiesta-Val competition in Atlanta, Georgia last Spring, making this award their third consecutive award for best percussion. Kennedy won every award possible, except for best auxiliary. However, this is nothing for our color guard to be ashamed of, as they made an extremely dramatic improvement over previous years. Their new advisor, Mrs. Connolly, a former member of our color guard, was able to keep our eight guard members motivated, and maintain a positive atmosphere throughout all the practices. This level of motivation as not been very apparent in previous years, however this year our color guard (co-captained by Taylour Sena and Sarah Wade), along with their new advisor, was determined to improve drastically. As a result of this positive environment, our color guard was capable of performing a thrilling routine for the show, including a member "walking the plank" off of a pirate ship, and a dramatic swordfight that is definitely an effective crowd-pleaser this year. Our color guard is hoping to continue the momentum into next year, in hopes of improving even more, and ultimately winning the best auxiliary award. In recap of this Sunday's events, the entire marching band is enjoying their conquering of Nottingham and Warren Hills for best in division, and best overall. As usual, our percussion section is celebrating yet another award for best percussion. Furthermore, our greatly improved color guard is proud of their drastic improvement over their performances in the past few years. The Archives
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