CFHS takes home Division I win for state marching band contest

Linden Terpstra/Staff Writer

The marching band captured a Division I title at the State Marching Band Festival in Waterloo on Saturday, Oct. 11. The crowd response was immense after their performance titled “Best of Broadway,” which includes portions of Miss Saigon, Jekyll and Hyde and Jesus Christ Superstar.

“It totally topped our homecoming performance. The crowd was amazing and was even cheering before the star was formed,” said drum major Mark Lukasiewicz, speaking of the star formed on the last move of Jesus Christ Superstar.

According to Lukasiewicz, everyone helped to serve as good role models, but the seniors stood above all. “I was really impressed with the seniors’ dedication this year,” he said.

During the practices, the marching band memorizes music, drill charts and other moves. They combine them all, form their performance and repeat many times to perfect it.

“I think that the band put 110 percent effort into preparing for the show. We deserved the really great performance that we put on,” sophomore Sarah Postel said.

Though the band practices about six hours a week, an extra amount of work came from band director Kyle Engelhardt. “It took me about 110 hours to write the drill, but I was really happy with the show from start to finish,” Engelhardt said. “I thought it was the best we had played all year.”

According to percussion director Barry Dvorak, the drum line also had a great performance after a plentiful amount of practice. “They went way beyond what they were asked to do. They had done an awesome job and had an remarkable performance,” he said.

Overall, band members were also happy with the show. “Every person brought it to the performance,” drum major Elise Berry said. “We never performed better than we did today — not this morning in rehearsal, not Friday night. This was the best.”