The marching band earned its highest score of the season at a PIMBA competition at Baldwin on Saturday.
The band scored 82.725 out of 100 at the event, which is an improvement from their previous competition, when they scored 78.3.
“It’s a 100-point system, and the past two competitions we have gotten around the seventies. But we found out last Saturday that we got almost an 83,” senior Emma Smerbeck, one of the drum majors, said.
Because Baldwin hosted Saturday’s event, the Highlanders were scored but did not compete with other schools. Still, Baldwin band members are happy with the improvements they have made throughout the season, she said.
“We have definitely improved our musicality. We also look more professional this year. We had somebody design all our props and the backdrops,” Smerbeck said.
Sophomore Nyssa Kolocuris said the color guard has also made positive strides.
“The guard choreography has been hard, but the work looks a lot nicer. It has been a lot more challenging for us, but we have been able to pull it off,” Kolocuris said.
Sophomore Skye Magera said the band had a strong day.
“I think we all did pretty well,” Magera said. Marching band Director Zachary George it “was one of our best performances ever.”
Also new this year is a new way for the drum majors to showcase their originality.
“This year the directors let us have this visual thing where I get off the podium and I am on the field and I march for a little bit,” Smerbeck said. “For the second song, (fellow drum major Marley Murajda) goes off and she has her own thing. I think that makes us look different from other bands in a good way.”
Smerbeck also credited George.
“He is a good leader and has a good outlook. After every competition, he takes the judge’s criticism and teaches it the next week,” Smerbeck said.
The band’s last competition of the year happens on Saturday at Gateway in the PIMBA championships.
