On a dreary Saturday afternoon, while the people of Huntley had been staying in and watching the rain, the Huntley High School Marching Band was busy winning the Mount Prospect High School Kight of Champions competition.

The band had gotten first in music, percussion, and color guard, and they had won first place in their class, 4A. The band won first place overall over 12 other bands.

When arriving at Mount Prospect High School just by looking up the band had the sinking feeling that they would have to play inside as they did two years ago back in 2019.

“It was a little stressful but we expected this. I saw it coming, but that did not stop the disappointment. I knew we were [going to perform inside]. I thought “you know, we do pretty well. we have a shot at winning this thing,” senior TJ Fossmeyer said.

Class 1A and the first band of class 2A, Lake Park High School, had been able to perform on the field before being rained in. Every other band after that had to perform inside.

“Class 1A, which is the smaller schools, was held on the field. And then the first band, Lake Park High School of class 2A, performed on the field. Every band after them, including us, went inside” marimba player and front ensemble section leader Cade Dees said.

Once the band finished performing, they felt exhilarated.

“I knew that we had done something good despite being rained in and being out of commission for a year. It was just such an improvement. It was such a relief Dees said.

When the drum majors and head color guard members were receiving awards, Fossmeyer had said that,

“I have seen drum majors salute every time they win an award, [and] I always wanted to be in that position. I did not think it was actually going to happen. my stomach dropped when I heard that we won.”

The Huntley High School Marching Band had left Mount Prospect with a new sense of confidence.