Published: November 02, 2009 03:32 pm      

AHS band reeling in awards

After narrowly missing a trip to the state marching band last year, the Golden Warrior Band has not missed a beat this fall as it collected several trophies in three October competitions.

In consecutive weeks, the band received high marks at the United States Scholastic Band Association competition in Burleson, the Paluxy Valley Contest in Glen Rose and the UIL Region VII competition in Glen Rose.

“Despite missing a lot of early morning band rehearsals this fall due to rain, the band has shown steady improvement from week to week,” Band Director Ronnie Mayfield said. “Their hard work has paid off for them. There was a great response from the crowd during the band’s performance at the UIL marching contest.”

At the USSBA competition, the band was named Best In Class but also won several superlative awards. Of the five other awards given, the Golden Warrior Band won four of them, including Best ColorGuard, Best Drumline, Best General Effect and Best Overall Effect.

The colorguard also took home Best Colorguard honors at the Paluxy Valley Contest the following week. In its final tune-up for UIL, the band received a 1st Division rating in a competition in which 20 other bands were competing.

At last week’s UIL competition, the band received a 1st Division and had superior ratings from all three judges. A 1st Division in the fall marching band season is the first step to the band earning a sweepstakes. The second step is the Concert and Sight-reading contest in the spring.

Although the marching competitions are over for 2009, the band will stay busy throughout the year with All-Region auditions in December, UIL Solo and Ensemble contest in February and the UIL Concert and Sight-reading competition in April.