Published: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 / Updated: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 07:40 PM
School bands march on to State
Fort Mill and Nation Ford win Upper State; Indian Land 2nd
FORT MILL TOWNSHIP --
It was a Saturday night full of victory cheers for local high school marching bands as two took home Upper State championship titles.
This time last week, Nation Ford High School's marching band was out of commission. Twenty percent of the band's members were sick with the flu or severe colds and Director Martin Dickey had to cancel an appearance at a home football game and pull out of a competition the following day.
They feel a whole lot better now, and the Fort Mill and Indian Land high school marching band are also celebrating.
The bands from Nation Ford and Fort Mill both captured the Upper State Championship title Saturday. Nation Ford competed at Clinton High School and won the Class AAA Upper State Championship for the second year. Fort Mill High School won the Class AAAA championship at Boiling Springs High School and Indian Land High School took home second place in the Class A Upper State championship, also at Clinton High School.
The second-place win was a huge victory for Indian Land band members, who were disappointed after last week's third-place finish at the Blythewood Tournament of Bands.
“It took us a while to find ourselves and felt that our performance at our two previous competitions were not indicative of our ensemble,” said Indian Land director Matt Willis. “The kids did some amazing work this week and are starting to understand what they are capable of. This week we are going to again focus on finding the energy in the show and really performing it.”
The schools' honors qualify them for the SCBDA state championships to be held Saturday. Nation Ford and Indian Land will compete at Woodmont High School in Piedmont. Fort Mill will compete at Batesburg-Leesville High School.
Last year, Indian Land won seventh place in the State Championship in Class A. Fort Mill won second place in Class AAAA and Nation Ford placed second in Class AAA.
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