For their first competition of the season, the Westwood Warrior Marching Band debuted their 2018 show entitled Celestial Motions at Bands of America Austin (BOA) on Saturday, Sept. 29.

“I was so excited going into the competition,” Connor Galley ‘20 said. “We had an awesome rehearsal in the morning and everyone was super hyped and ready.”

The Austin regional hosted several bands that have won multiple BOA contests including Claudia Taylor Johnson, Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, James Bowie, Leander, Round Rock, and Vandegrift.

“This is the first time we had everything set up in our favor,” Tom Klink ‘19 said. “We had an amazing performance time slot, and we’ve taken into account all the mistakes made in past years so we don’t make the same errors again.”

Although the band felt prepared, the weather that day was not in their favor. Huge amounts of rain caused a delay in their schedule, thus impacting their rehearsal time and performance time.

“The weather definitely was not ideal, but there’s no way a little bit of rain would stop us from pushing through,” Sai Tadiboyina ‘22 said. “We worked way too hard for this.”

Once the band received the updated performance time, they checked into Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex and proceeded to warm up. After the performance, students prepared for finalist announcements, hoping that their hard work would pay off. As schools continued to be called, students faces began to fall because they realized they wouldn’t advance to finals this year.

“It was gut-wrenching not hearing our school’s name [during announcements],” Connie Huang ‘21 said. “We all thought that this was the year band would make history, but I’m still super proud of the performance I gave and I can’t wait to continue to improve the rest of the season.”

After a long day, students had a chance to interact with friends and family before going home. Soon after, the students found out they placed 13th, three places away from finals. They had received a 0.5 point penalty, due to a miscommunication on when to start the timer, causing the band to drop from 12th place.

“Although we didn’t make finals, our overall score was really good,” assistant band director Brittany Dacy said. “Our main focus now is cleaning visuals and the general effect of our show, and we have to make sure there’s no confusion with the judges. I’m super proud of these kids and I can’t wait to get back to work.”