Soft applause sounds at the end of each announcement as band members anxiously await the next place to be revealed. Hands grip hands and hearts pound in harmony. A name other than their own announced for third place. Cheers erupt, and at this moment each member knew it was possible: another record-breaking performance.

The marching band traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico Oct. 29 to perform at the ZIA Marching Band Fiesta, finishing their final performance in second place with a score of 86.0. Head director Mike Sheffield said going into the last week of marching season he was unsure of what the outcome at ZIA would be. He knew the band had potential to do very well, but he had no preconceived notions.

“After I saw the show, I was confident that we were going to be in the finals,” Sheffield said. “I knew it went well. It clicked like I wanted it to.”

The preliminary performance placed third with a score of 83.15. Sheffield said after the performance, he had no idea what the score was but a second performance was ensured.

“I felt good about being in the finals,” Sheffield said. “I knew we were top 10. Once I saw the score I felt even better. Being in the 80s is almost a guarantee of being in the top five. I still wasn’t sure until it was announced, but I knew we had done well.”

Sheffield said neither performance was perfect, but the errors occurred in different areas. 

“The first performance was very intelligently and safely done,” Sheffield said. “In the finals performance I felt like there was a little more risk taken, and the timing was better. There were still some elements that didn’t click. We got distracted. We just had a few elements that didn’t quite look like they should have, and that was a little bit of a question mark.”

Sheffield said the students’ dedication and continual drive resulted in the band’s placement.

“I think I would say that the students in the band, despite the bumps, the hitches, the naysayers and some of the placements at contests, never gave up,” Sheffield said. “Day to day, there were opportunities to quit, to give less than 100 percent, and we just didn’t stop. Had that not happened, no matter how well the design of the show, we would not have placed the way we did.”

Sheffield said his main goal for the finals performance was to surpass the preliminary performance. After finals were finished, he knew the band was still within the top three or four but placing second was not in his line of sight.

“I still felt good about it, but I didn’t see second place coming at all,” Sheffield said. “It carries a lot of weight to place that high.”

Sheffield said anyone who has ever gone to ZIA knows how significant it is to place that high in the contest.

“It’s very gratifying and justifying in our efforts to up the difficulty of the show and work through it this year, because it was a force of will,” Sheffield said. “We had to make things happen, they didn’t just click. And it feels good that they did land finally.”