Three area bands competed at competitions this weekend, with two bringing home trophies.
McLoud High School marching band competed at Konowa Band Day on Saturday in Konowa, placing fourth overall in field and parade combined and third overall in field. Within the 4A Class, the band won first in field, first in field and parade combined, outstanding color guard and second in parade.
This is a huge improvement from last week’s competition, where they placed third in 4A at the Blue and Gold Classic, missing out on the finals, though not by much, according to their band director.
“I am very proud of them because it’s a big jump up from last year, my first year here,” said Band Director Cody Tollison. “I appreciate how much they improved, but it’s still not enough. I’m very hypercritical, and I know they can do better.”
Tollison added that the students were ecstatic over the win, storming the field to take photos with their trophies. It’s the first time they’ve won first place or placed high in about three years, Tollison said.
The Spirit of Stroud Marching Band competed at the Chickasaw Band Day Extravaganza in Tishimingo on Saturday, bringing home second in their class.
“The kids are constantly improving, and we are on track to finish the season strong,” said Band Director Kevin Couch. “Great contest and fantastic panel of judges. Their comments will certainly help our young group grow.”
The Prague High School marching band also competed this weekend at the Blue and Grey Classic in Glenpool on Saturday. Band Director Trevor Harrold said the weekend went pretty well, and overall, the scores from all the judges were somewhere around 10 percent better.
“I know it’s kind of hard to gauge sometimes, because different judges, you know, different people, their scoring is kind of different, but overall, the averages were about 10 percent higher, so I’m definitely proud of the kids for sure,” he said.
The band opted out of performing the third part of their program, a decision Harrold left to students. With homecoming last week and a parade to prepare for, they didn’t have as much time to practice for the competition as they would have liked. Regardless, Harrold feels good about where the band is.
“They’re definitely getting better in the areas that I imagined for them, you know, just togetherness. Just in general, having more of a group mentality. That’s number one. And that’s been getting better since I started. I feel good about that,” he said.
The next competition for all three bands will be OSSAA Regionals, which are set to take place from Oct. 14 to 29.