PUEBLO - It's a bronze medal for the Bayfield Marching Wolverines.
Coming into state competition ranked third, then taking third in semi-finals on Monday morning, it wasn't a huge surprise, albeit a bit of a disappointment for the perfection-seeking musicians, who were hoping to move up in the final rankings.
They were rightfully proud of their accomplishments, however, and said they played their best.
"We have the most support at state, and that's the most important thing for us," said Savannah Kaufmann, a sophomore percussionist for the band. "It was our best performance this year."
Bayfield's 68-member band is huge by state 1A competition standards, which is for schools with up to 400 students. First place Estes Park and second place Cedaredge only have 20-something members in their bands. So when all of the Wolverine parents show up to support their kids, it's a sizeable section of the fans in the stands who are cheering for Bayfield.
Bayfield scored 60.9 points, just behind Cedaredge with 62.2 and Estes Park with 64.2.
Even getting to the Colorado Bandmsters Association finals competition is grueling.
There are five regional competitions, and only the top bands in each class in each region advance to state.
On Oct. 15, Bayfield took second at the Western Marching Qualifier in Grand Junction, just behind Cedaredge, to move onto finals at Colorado State University-Pueblo on Oct. 26. In between, the band played at the Zia Marching Festival in Albuquerque on Saturday, Oct. 24.
All of the bands performing at regionals and state are judged on music individual, music ensemble, two categories of music effects, visual individual, visual ensemble and visual effect.
"It's more pressure," Kaufmann said of performing at state, where the judges and crowd are intently watching and cheering the band, not the football team. "It's where all the hard work pays off."
The only other finalist from Southwest Colorado in Pueblo was Montezuma-Cortez High School, which took fourth in 2A competition for schools with 401-850 students. Durango High School was seventh in class 3A, for schools with 851 to 1,200 students.
Bayfield scored higher in Monday's semi-finals than Platte Valley, Monte Vista and Gunnison to move into the finals on Monday afternoon.
"Our most entertaining and professional show ever, and as always a crowd favorite," BHS Band Director Derek Smith wrote in a press release. "A score of 60.90 reached our goal, and we left everything on the field! Making finals was a great goal, and we did march as hard as we could. I am very proud of this band and I will forever cherish these memories!"
Now the marching band takes a well-deserved breather, and BHS music students start working on their jazz and concert music presentations.
