After winning the first competition of the school year, Starr’s Mill marching band sets high expectations for the rest of the competitions to come. After being critiqued and studied by judges on the band movements and music, the Impeccable Panther Pride brings pride to the school 

“I like the fact that their actual judges are very close to the track, so we are able to communicate very easily with them,” band director Scott King said. “I thought it was well run, so it was a very good first competition.”

The competition took place Sept. 28 at Bowdon High School, and featured eight schools, including Northgate and Whitewater. Starr’s Mill earned Superior ratings in all categories.

“The main thing is that we’re thrilled with their performance and their hard work,” assistant band director Bert Groover said. “Their results are showing off what they’ve done so far, and we ‘re very excited about this coming weekend as well and that the judges will see what we see.”

The marching band was recognized for a couple awards including the Norman Pageant award for musicianship and the overall Grand Champion. The Norman Pageant award is for playing the most and best music throughout their performance. The Grand Champion means that everything was the best, from musical quality to marching to color guard performance.

Along with the collective awards for the band as a whole unit, there were numerous individual awards as well. Kennedy Blanks won Best Drum Major all day and best in class AA. The percussion section won second best all day and first in class AA. The color guard was third best all day as well as second in class AA.

“It’s tricky because it’s pretty subjective, but sometimes not,” King said. “All the judges come with different backgrounds and biases, but we try to make it to where it’s really easy for them to choose us.”

In the next competition there will be fourteen bands and they are set up in different classifications. Starr’s Mill will compete against four other schools.