Thundering Herd sweeping through season
Continuing its winning streak, the Diamond Bar High School Thundering Herd claimed all sweepstake categories and placed first overall at the Duarte Route 66 Parade and the Placentia band review.
The Route 66 competition consisted of 18 schools, including DBHS. Brahmas achieved scores of 93.50 in band sweepstakes, 89.60 in auxiliary sweepstakes and 88.00 in drum major sweepstakes. The Placentia competition consisted of 40 schools, and Diamond Bar won sweepstakes in all categories: 94.5 in band sweepstakes, 91.75 in auxiliary sweepstakes and 478 in music.
“It just shows that our hardwork has paid off,” said senior John Lee, band vice president and trumpet section leader. “This is our first parade and comparing our scores from last year, we’ve improved, so it shows that were heading the right direction.”
DBHS also participated in the Los Angeles County Fair parade on Diamond Bar Day. Due to winning first place last year and collecting the $10,000 grand prize, the band could not compete this time. This regulation ensures different schools can succeed every year.
To maintain consistent wins, the Thundering Herd has been meeting up for rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday to work on marching. They also meet every Monday and Wednesdays for woodwind and brass sectionals, working solely on music.
The Thundering Herd also reflects on how well they do during competitions and use each parade as a chance to improve themselves. According to secretary Kevin Kuo, improving individually will reveal automatic improvement in the group overall.
“I think a lot of it comes down to trust and and dedication for each person because to have our motivated will to win, we need to dedicate more time to band practice and practice not only consistently but also with improvement,” Kuo said.
They are looking forward to the Arcadia parade on Nov. 17 where they get to showcase all of their hard work into the last parade.
“It’s our last and most important parade,” Lee said. “All of our hard work just goes towards this last parade.”
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