10^th place … ninth … eighth … seventh … with each passing placement, the grip of hands between the band members tightened … sixth … their heartbeats quickened … fifth … gasps filled with anticipation broke the silence of the thousands in attendance … “Fourth place, with a score of 87.7, from Canyon, Texas, the Soaring Pride Band.”

Band members competed Oct. 18 in Albuquerque, NM at the ZIA Marching Fiesta. They placed fourth overall and swept every award in the AA category.

“It seemed like this year was incredibly efficient,” head band director Mike Sheffield said. “It didn’t seem like we wasted any time and every day was progress, every weekend was progress and every contest was better and better. I think the product speaks for itself. Setting a record score at ZIA and a record high placement speaks really well for the consistency of the work.”

After preliminaries, the band broke their previous record score of 78.5 with a rating of 81.9. Then, in the same day, band members broke their record again with an 87.7 after their finals performance.

“I couldn’t wrap my brain around it,” Sheffield said. “I had felt really good about prelims and I felt really good about making finals, but had no preconceived notion that we would ever come close to scoring in the high seventies much less the eighties. They kept announcing the next place and it wasn’t us and it wasn’t us and the score just kept going higher. I was elated.”

The band competed Oct. 11 at the UIL Region Marching contest and received a first division. Members also competed Oct. 4 at the High Plains Marching Festival and placed third overall.

“I felt like we were on a progression and we hadn’t quite made it,” Sheffield said. “Last year, we hit that progression early and we actually kind of tapered off from High Plains. This year, we paced ourselves a little better, so I was prepared to maybe take a hit or two on the placement at High Plains and for it to pay off at ZIA.”

Next year, the band will be able to qualify for the UIL State Marching contest.

“This season was much better than I expected,” Sheffield said. “In a way, it makes me nervous because now we have to top it, and that is going to be really hard to do.”

Band seniors will be recognized at this week’s football game against Randall.

“There were so many times this season when I just wanted to quit, but I say, ‘you have been in this since fifth grade and you’re going to stay,’” senior Rachel Minier said. “There’s always going to be a part of me that loves playing my instrument, and that’s why I never quit.”

Sheffield said he feels like everybody stepped up to allow senior band members experience a good last marching season.

“I’m really happy for the seniors, because I feel like this is a bit of a vindication from last year going to area and getting trumped by a judge,” Sheffield said. “I feel like this is a good way to leave a fantastic legacy.”