Sept. 24, Marching Band competed in the Lafayette Contest of Champions. It was the band’s first competition of the season. The band placed 2nd in the Gold Division and 6th overall in preliminaries, and 7th overall in finals.

“Now that we understand the expectations of the judges and the other performers, we can meet and exceed those expectations for the future,” senior Madison Elliott said. 

Besides the band’s home show at the Francis Howell Marching Invitational, this was their first performance in front of judges and other schools.

“My first competition was actually a lot of fun. I thought I would hate every second of it, but it was a lot of fun just hanging out and watching other bands,” freshman Icarus Nordeen said.

Sophomore Jaina Woods plays a trumpet duet in the show with senior Aden Hopewell. Hopewell couldn’t perform at Lafayette due to missing too many practices the week before because he had strep throat.

“It was really nerve racking because I’m used to playing with Aden,” Woods said. “When Aden showed up to watch our finals performance, I felt a lot better.”

Marching band performs next at the Golden Regiment Invitational at Blue Springs High School, Oct. 1.