The Splendora High School Band traveled to Lindale Texas to perform at the UIL Area Marching Contest on Oct. 30. At the UIL Area Prelims, the band placed third and advanced to UIL Area Finals performance for the first time in their school district’s history.
In the finals round, the top five bands would advance to the UIL State Marching Championships. Unfortunately, the Splendora High School band missed UIL State Championships by three spots, with an eighth place ranking out of the 25 Class 4A marching bands at the contest.
One judge had the band second place out of 25 for marching visuals. Another judge had the band fourth place out of 25. Two out of five judges had the band advancing to state in visual performance.
Where the band fell short was in music performance, citing what the directors believe were due to the sudden drop in temperature that night, which usually affects small band tuning the most.
“As we grow bigger in performance numbers, this factor will affect us less. Additionally, the band having their first-ever finals run experience also played an important factor in the quality of the performance. The students feel really good about their performance, and they are already excited for next year now that they know that the next level is achievable,” said Band Director Brian Best.
“The fact that the band was so close to the UIL State Marching Championships is a massive milestone in the growth of the high school band program. This is by far the highest-earning high school band in all of Splendora’s long-standing history. The band directors are extremely thankful to our school teachers and staff who helped our students through the season. Thank you also to our counselors, district and campus administration, athletics teams and their staff, school board, and all of our constituents of the Splendora community, who encouraged us and supported us all the way to the very end,” added Best.
This year, the high school band accomplished the following accolades:
- USBands Baytown Contest – second Place
- Lone Star Preview Marching Contest – third Place
- UIL Region Marching Contest – 1st Division, “Straight-Ones” from all three judges. 5th time in a row to advance to Area playoff contest
- UIL Area Prelims Marching Contest – third place, advanced to Area Finals – first time in district history
- UIL Area Finals Marching Contest – eighth place out of 25 (top 5 advance)
Below is the link to the UIL competition program entitled “Inner Light” as performed by the Splendora High School Wildcat Marching Band.