Marching in Pursuit of Excellence
Band clinics a key part of Pursuit competition
Photo by Deb Gau Backdrops like butterfly wings unfurled behind the Tiger Marching Band during Pursuit of Excellence on Saturday night. Marshall was one of 11 schools performing at the event.
Photos by Deb Gau The MHS color guard performed together with the marching band during this year's show, titled "Someday I'll Fly."
Photo by Deb Gau Backdrops like butterfly wings unfurled behind the Tiger Marching Band during Pursuit of Excellence on Saturday night. Marshall was one of 11 schools performing at the event.
Photos by Deb Gau The MHS color guard performed together with the marching band during this year's show, titled "Someday I'll Fly."
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MARSHALL -- It was a cool, grey weekend in Marshall - but the weather didn't stop the marching band and color guard students gathered at the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.
On Saturday morning, Marshall High School students rehearsed their field show for Pursuit of Excellence, pausing to hear feedback from judges.
"It was fun. I think that I learned a lot," said Tiger Marching Band member Astrid Snyder.
"This is my first year, so I was really anxious because I didn't know what it was like," said Tiger Marching Band member Ajax Cavins. "But it's nice to be able to learn and get better with actual judges."
Saturday marked the 30th annual Pursuit of Excellence marching band event in Marshall. A total of 11 high school marching bands from South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska participated in band clinics during the day, followed by competition at SMSU's Mattke Field.
Competing bands were divided into different classes based on size. The first-place bands in each class were Sioux Falls Jefferson in the Crimson Class, Sioux Falls Roosevelt in the Gold Class, and Bellevue West High School from Bellevue, Nebraska, in the Navy Class.
As one of the hosts of the competition, the MHS Marching Band wasn't part of the field competition, but they did get judge feedback from an exhibition performance Saturday night. The Tiger Marching Band's show this year, "Someday I'll Fly," used a combination of music and bright color to go along with the theme of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly.
This year, the Tigers's band clinic took place on Mattke Field, instead of in a parking lot or other practice field. In addition to working with clinicians on the field, students also heard feedback from judges seated up high in the stands, who talked to students with the help of speakers.
Band members said rehearsing on the same field as the competition was a positive.
"Last year we did (the clinic) in a parking lot, and then we practiced music in the theater," said band member Carter Price. "This is just overall way better."
"It's the area that we get a lot of our visual work and changes done. So it's a lot nicer to have a clinic in the environment that we will be working in," said Ethan Shuckhard.
The weather was chilly and misty on Saturday, which did pose a bit of a challenge for performing. From time to time during Marshall's band clinic, marchers and percussion players could be seen wiping moisture off their instruments. Snyder and fellow band member Bethany Goodrich said students also got cold hands.
Cavins said the conditions made performing slippery.
"I almost dropped my tuba," Cavins said.
"It's a little bit of a pain, but we've dealt with worse," Shuckhart said of the mist.
The weather wasn't bad enough to slow down the performance schedule, either, he said. "We've also had a lot worse in terms of delays as well."
Pursuit of Excellence was the Tigers' second marching band competition of the season. This coming weekend, they will perform at the Tri-State Band Festival in Luverne and the Big Sioux Review in Brandon, S.D.