The band’s front ensemble and the full battery performed and won the Thunder in the Hills Drumline Invitational that occurred in Dripping Springs on Saturday. The drumline won first place in its division, the Tenor caption, and overall grand champion.

“Winning the tenor caption really felt good, like all of our hard work had finally paid off when we won,” senior Luke Salazar said. “I felt like we could have performed better but we won and that was really exciting.”

The drumline practices during class to prepare, and they had an after school rehearsal the night before the contest. When they arrive at the contest they get one hour to warm-up before the performance.

“Going into the competition the third time was still nerve-wracking like the previous two years, but at the same time I felt calmer than normal this year, as our show was cleaner than it was last year,” junior band member Megan Gordon said. “And specifically for the cymbal line, we went in really strong this year, so I wasn’t as nervous that anyone would make a large mistake in the performance.”

The entire competition lasted all day, but the actual performance was only 10-15 minutes long including setting up, performing the show, and moving everything off the field. Some band members said that performing can be challenging, especially with large crowds cheering the band.

“When I’m performing, I just try to keep a focused mindset and try to focus on one thing at a time,” Salazar said. “Sometimes it is a challenge because you get easily distracted with other things besides the performance and the way you look while you are performing.”

Despite the challenges this contest presents, some students enjoyed competing with friends.

“My favorite part was performing with some of my best friends in front of a large crowd,” junior Jordan Apra said. “Everyone worked extra hard this year and it payed off in the end when we won first place.”