The Baldwin marching band earned a second-place finish, with a score of 85.38, at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association championships at Deer Lakes High School on Saturday.

Junior Melody Latt said the guard did well.

“I think the guard did really well with our uniforms because we just got them and there’s a uniform change involved throughout the show, so I think we did really well with that timing,” Latt said. “We did well with our flag work as well.”

Senior drum major Zaynah El Maghrabi said the band did well considering the circumstances that they had.

“It was windy outside, and half the band couldn’t see because the sun was out,” El Maghrabi said.

El Maghrabi said the band had a much more serious outlook this year.

“I think we really, really improved in terms of how much of a standard we hold ourselves to, and how disciplined we are during rehearsal,” El Maghrabi said. “Especially during full retreat last year, there were a lot of jokes being made during a very serious point of the competition. This year, we took it a lot more seriously, and it reflected in our score.”

For the band, senior drum major Jonny Pickell stood out for El Maghrabi.

“He learned all of the show in one day because we lost one of our members. He really just set a really great example for the band,” El Maghrabi said.

For the guard, freshman Leah Stanley stood out, Latt said.

“Leah stood out because she just started guard last year, and she’s really stepped up,” Latt said. “It’s very evident that she puts a lot of her free time into guard and learning things.”

For El Maghrabi, there are things the band could improve on moving forward.

“I think one thing that we could always improve on is our tone and also how much we’re staying focused during practices,” El Maghrabi said.

The competition season is over, and the next performance for the band will be at the football game on Friday against Upper Saint Clair at Baldwin.