On Sept. 11, the Huntley High School marching band competed against nine other schools at Lake Park High School. They performed alongside color guard and the pit. It has been almost two years since Huntley’s marching band had a competition.

“To do a competition again [brought] some sense of normalcy,” drum major and senior Timothy Fossmeyer said.

The ensemble performed with soloists and as a whole together with its 70 band members. 

In Class 2A the marching band won Outstanding Percussion. They won second place in their class out of five bands. Overall, the marching band won fourth place out of the nine bands.

“We did better than we thought, not because we doubted our ability [but] because our band was smaller compared to the other bands,” head drum major and senior Olivia Gatto said.

Due to COVID-19, social distancing was implemented and the competition was held outside. Masks had to be worn inside, to go use the restroom or to cool off from the hot sun, but were not required outside. The competition lasted from afternoon to late in the evening. 

“It was great to see my students back up there doing what they love to do because they are missing that passion. Getting back out there and doing our first competition brought that passion back,” band director Kevin Krivosik said.

To prepare for the event, the marching band completed weekly rehearsals during April until the end of the school year. The ensemble even had a shortened band camp in June followed by a couple of rehearsal days in the summer. They had another band camp at the end of July through August, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the high school. 

These band camps were outside. Their second band camp caused the marching band members to stay outside for eight hours, Monday through Friday, for the first week and Monday through Thursday for the second week.

“We were the only ones in the school,” Krivosik said.

Although the marching band is proud of how they placed at Lake Park, they hope that their next performance will really make a statement.