With each note, step and one collective heartbeat, the Diamond Bar High School Thundering Herd and color guard marched their way through their competitions, taking sweepstakes at Arcadia’s 70th Annual Marching Competition with an overall score of 96.90 on Nov. 18.
The Arcadia Competition competes in many categories including auxiliary, music, marching, and drum major. Throughout this year’s season, Martin Luther King High School has been an active competitor in all competitions for many years, acting as a drive for the many hours of practice that DBHS’ marching band does.
“Throughout the year it takes up a lot of time, and although it’s not difficult it’s tedious to fix all the small things,” sophomore Jaden Pak said.
The DBHS color guard took sweepstakes at Arcadia against rival schools such as MLKHS and Chino Hills High School. Throughout the year our colorguard has sustained their streak of winning all the previous marching band competitions throughout this year.
“I think this year we did really great, especially because this year was my first, and I’m really glad that as a team we did really great and we accomplished all of our goals throughout this season,” sophomore Tiana Williams said.
The day of Arcadia all students in the marching band got to school at 6:30 am to prepare their suits, shoes, spats, and gloves for their competition. After departing at 8:45 in the morning and arriving at 9:30, they warm up till 12:50 pm where they have their step off, or their competition where they are judged based on one run through of their march. Finally at 2:00 pm they reveal the winners of the categories and sweepstakes.
“Getting up super early just to prepare our shoes and gloves always seems too pretentious, but we’ve always done it and in the end the extra preparations have saved us in some situations like when someone misplaces their shoes or gloves,” junior Hayden Tonek said.
The end of Arcadia also signifies the ending of the marching band season. So gaining sweepstakes is equal to winning a championship. For seniors, Arcadia is their last competition, and many seniors were emotional to say goodbye to their sections and many friends.
“I feel sad leaving because I’ve made so many new friends and have grown so close with them, but I’m glad that we won my last championship, and that I’ll have more time for school,” said Senior Suheil Macias.
