Bill Robinson
Because the top three spots in the largest category of the state high marching band competition have gone to either Lafayette or Dunbar high schools in Lexington for most of the past 20 years, members of the Madison Central High School band had come to believe that fourth or perhaps third was the best they could ever rank, said Sara Smith, one of the band’s three field commanders.
“While we never doubted our ability and always hoped for the best, the question most people asked was, ‘who would slip into fourth place behind the Big 3 of Class 5-A,” she said.
As the results of the Kentucky Music Educators competition were called out just after 11:45 p.m. Saturday in Louisville’s Papa John’s Stadium, all of that changed.
“When we heard Dunbar called for fourth place, we started to believe we could even come in first,” Smith said. “To be honest, I’d never felt that before.”
A championship seemed to come even nearer to reality when North Hardin was announced as the third-place winner.
The next name called, however, was Madison Central, and Lafayette took home first-place honors.
Still, placing second was a new high for the MCHS program since it was placed in the same category as Lafayette and Dunbar four years ago. In 2004, Central won the 3-A state championship.
Last year, Central failed to make the finals, but two years ago they were in the finals with Dunbar, Lafayette and North Hardin and came in fourth.
“I’m really proud of every member of the band,” said Smith, a senior, who shares field command duties with senior Raechel White and junior Alexis Atkins.
“After we missed the finals last year, the seniors came to band camp this past summer determined to get back in the finals this year,” she said. “Although we missed a lot of practice time because of all the rain we had this summer, it was the best band camp I’d ever had. When the freshman saw how determined the seniors were to make the finals, they were inspired to do their part.”
The band also lost much outdoor practice time this fall because of the cold rainy weather.
The 120 band members got little sleep Sunday morning because they did not spend the night in Louisville. Their bus arrived back in Richmond at 3:30 a.m. and was met by a police escort at the city limits.
They had to get as much rest as possible Sunday night, because they were giving concerts at the three county middle schools in Richmond on Monday, starting with B. Michael Caudill at 8 a.m.
The band was supported in Louisville by about 50 members of the band boosters club who moved sets and percussion instruments and performed other logistical tasks, said Marc Whitt, the organization’s president.
Among the more than 20,000 spectators in the stadium were more than 200 fans from Madison County, Whitt said.
“The band members really appreciated their making the trip to show their support,” he said.
Kentucky has one of the strongest, most competitive high school marching band systems in the country, said MCHS band director Brent Barton.
“When you can break into the top two, especially when those positions have been taken by one of the three same schools for more than 20 years, you know you’ve done something pretty special,” he said.
In addition to their three middle school concerts Monday, band members are wrapping up their annual citrus fruit sale, Barton said.
“The MCHS concert band has been invited back to the Bands of America Festival in Indianapolis, March 3-4,” the director said. “We really don’t have the money for that right now. I hope the community will remember the bands achievement during the fruit sale.”
Richmond Centre has made a vacant location available to the band to sell their fruit there when it arrives, Barton said.
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.
