The Douglas High School Fighting Tigers are the Nevada state championship marching band as a result of scores at the Sierra Band Crusade competition at the University of Nevada, Reno, on Saturday.
Douglas led the pack in the medium school marching band division in a field from Idaho and Nevada. North Valleys High School placed second, followed by Reno, Galena, Carson and three other high schools.
"It wasn't a squeaker," said Douglas music director Bill Zabelsky. "The nearest school was six or seven points away. That's huge in marching band competition."
The band took home four trophies: first place in the medium class marching band, and first place each in flags, wind instruments and percussion.
"I was especially pleased with the percussion taking first since we didn't have a pit," said Zabelsky about his drum section actually marching with bass, snare and five-piece tenor drum sets.
"Some bands have a pit in front and Mr. Z doesn't believe in that," said junior Matthew Kendler. "It's supposed to be a 'marching band,' not a 'stand in place band.'"
The students attributed their success to their high-stepping marching style and their willingness to play something different in their 15-minute program than the "drum and bugle corps" style preferred by most of the competition.
"We played music by The Doors," said Matthew. "We stick with what we like."
"At other schools, most drum lines have separate coaches but we wrote our own cadences," said tenor percussionist Sam Flakus.
"The percussion has done everything I asked them," said Zabelsky. "I tell them it's like spice in food - it could be too little or too much. It's the same with music and they were right with it. They scored higher because musically they were better."
The band will take the judges' comments from previous performances to heart for the next and last field competition of the year, the Fairfield Tournament of Champions on Nov. 17 in Fairfield, Calif.
"We tune and then we fine tune. The kids know they have to listen to each other. The spacing has to be perfect," said Zabelsky. "The flags choreographer, Amy Jackson, has made them an award-winning team.
"The band usually takes it up a notch at competition but I was surprised by the margin. This performance had a little extra sparkle. The energy stayed there with the help of the drum major," he said. "Good marching and good musicianship should win every time."
n Contact Sharlene Irete at sirete@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 217
UNR Sierra Band Crusade
Nevada State Marching Champions in the Medium Band Division
1st Place Band
1st Place Flags
1st Place Winds
1st Place Percussion
1st Place Music
1st Place Marching & Maneuvering
1st Place General Effects - Music
1st Place General Effects - Visual Award #437
