Sweet victories for Indoor Percussion

Ashleigh Leon glances towards her fellow performers while playing the marimba.

BY KATELYN BUCHALTER

Editor in Chief

Indoor Percussion took to success right away this past season with an entirely new theme: “Sugar Wonderland: The Sweet Expedition.” Hard work and dedication brought the team to victory in 10 total competitions.

The band kicked off the competition season on February 10 with a first-place win at Southern Regional. The team then continued to place first in every MAP competition leading up to the MAPS championship. “Placing first in every competition for doing something you love feels so rewarding. It was a push for us to be our best selves and have a good time while doing it,” expressed junior Kayleigh Leon.

The long streak of first-place wins did not go without demanding preparations and long hours of practice and travel. “We typically came in early on Saturdays around 8am and practiced until we had to leave for the competitions, which would usually be around 12-1pm,” said junior Aaron Hernandez. “The competition would go till anywhere from 9 pm to 12 am.”

Christian Deserto, Braeden Appleton, and Annaliese Reckhow perform during the Indoor Percussion send-off show.

While in the past, local competitions often lacked opponents classified in the same level as Old Bridge, this year offered some serious competition. “Unlike past years, we had two other bands we went against at most competitions, which gave us something to strive for,” stated cymbal section leader Annaliese Reckhow.

Indoor Percussion competed in WGI (Winter Guard International) Competitions as well. Their first two WGI competitions ended with first-place titles. “Being able to compete at the highest level of our activity felt rewarding in the sense that we were able to directly see the results of our months’ worth of practice by being yielded as one of the world’s top high school groups,” voiced Hernandez.

Matteo Szeto bangs his bass drum in rhythm to the other performers.

After two first-place wins in the WGI competitions, the band scored 2nd in their group and 4th overall in preliminaries, leading them to Semi-finals where they placed 6th overall in the world. “Being reclassified to the world-class level last year is something I’m probably the most proud of,” expressed Reed Nocera. “This is a huge accomplishment because only 20 other schools in the country compete at this level.”

The Indoor Percussion team went on to place 8th overall in the world at the WGI World Championship in Dayton, Ohio and look forward to returning next year to further their accomplishments.