On Sunday October 29th the Triton Viking Marching Band competed at MICCA state finals winning a silver medal and five stars in music and color guard.

This the band has very much improved though the year with their scores at the start of the season being rather low in their division. Which is much different from the end of the season when they place in the top of their division.

The start of the season this year held a lot in store for the band with new staff members, injuries, and much more. One of these staff members might have been the difference between a four star in music and a five star in music. That member is Cameron Kane. Kane is the new assistant band director for the marching band and he has replaced one of the staff that almost the entire band knew but he jumped right in and filled those shoes. With new breathing exercises and ideas to focus on he may have been the difference.

There were many injuries this season as well. From someone getting a concussion in their soccer game to someone rolling their ankle so they can’t march the band kept on going. Even though they lost a staff member they knew and many almost quit throughout the season they stayed with it and ended up doing the best that the seniors have experienced in the band.

One member of the band, who wishes to stay anonymous, even wanted to quit multiple times. He said “If I get yelled at one more time I’m quitting”. This person wanted quit multiple times throughout the season. But he ended up sticking with it to help the band through the season. A sophomore, Sergey Avery, almost also left the band because he could not get the time to be in both band and other activities. But after leaving for a week he came back and ended up performing at finals with less practice than the rest of the band, but he pulled hi weight.

With the judges tapes being available after the performance the expert advice is given to the band. The judge for music said that the band was “well balanced, nice tone quality” which is something that the band has been criticized on multiple times throughout the course of the year. You also learn that the many of the things that have been drilled many times throughout the year have really come to fruition in the performance in finals and it’s a true test of the band.