Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Katelyn Cook, a senior on the Clovis High color guard, waves one of her flags as part of the band's "Home Run" show during halftime of Friday's homecoming game against Albuquerque High.
After a year on the bench, the Clovis High band hit it out of the park in its first competitive performance on Saturday.
The Wildcat marching band took grand champion honors, along with best large school band and best percussion section, at the High Plains Marching Festival. The event was the first competitive performance of the baseball-themed show "Home Run."
Band Director Bill Allred said he was proud of the performance in any case, but especially given the band's circumstances following the cancellation of last year's competitive season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Allred estimated 70% of the band had never marched before, and the 30% who had were freshmen or sophomores last time they had.
"To say that we are proud of this accomplishment would be an understatement" District Music Education Director Brandon Boerio said in a district release. "Our students and directors have shown great resolve over the past year of quarantines and remote learning due to COVID-19. Their diligence and hard work is paying off."
Additionally, Allred noted, there were two years of turnover in the band boosters and the band staff and many of the 19 bands in Saturday's competition competed in the 2020 season.
"It went great," Allred said. "The results were positive. The kids did what we needed to do and had a great attitude. I think everybody worked together cohesively."
The show features the Wildcadette dance troupe, decked out in baseball uniform costumes, joining the band for the first time in competition history and a design with three 30-by-30 tarps as bases and a drum major station as home plate. While Allred said there are many areas where the band can improve, the performance was consistently good with four first-place votes and a second in preliminary competition and all five first-place votes in the finals.
The band did a run-through during Friday's homecoming contest against Albuquerque High School, but Allred noted Saturday is a different animal.
"(For) the football game, they start at 7:20 in the morning, go to school, then rehearse and go late in the evening," Allred said. "It's pretty exhausting. The next day, they upped it another level. That's a really good sign of a great group."
Portales High's band also competed in Texas over the weekend, with its "Under the Big Top" show performance in Denver City.
"We took third in Class 4A," Director Kelli Morrison said, "and had a great first competition experience."
Both schools were in action Tuesday at the Green and Silver Classic, co-hosted by PHS and Eastern New Mexico University at Greyhound Arena. Clovis is back on the road Saturday at the Westerner in Lubbock.
