By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
The Otsego High School band program has a reputation for excellence.
This year is no different.
Otsego wrapped up its marching season on Saturday, Oct. 19, by taking first place in not one, but two competitions.
At Grandville, Otsego swept all captions—Best Music, Best Marching, Best Percussion and Best Colorguard—and received first place in Class B with a final score of 89.1. That score also made Otsego the Grand Champions, as it bested even the A and AA schools.
In the evening, Otsego traveled to East Kentwood, where the band again swept all caption awards and received first place in Class B with a score of 90.1. Otsego fell just short of Grand Champion honors, finishing second to an A school despite being the highest-ranked band by three of the four judges.
“Unfortunately, the one (judge) that didn’t score us highest had a large point spread, which enabled the A school to win Grand Champion,” Otsego band director Mitch Piersma said.
Despite falling just short of Grand Champion status in East Kentwood, Piersma said he couldn’t have asked for much more from the band.
“The East Kentwood performance was especially good, in my opinion,” he said. “The marching was very crisp and it was great to hear all the musical things we worked on in class come out in the performance.
“I feel that the band peaked at just the right time. I never got tired of the big hit in our last song, ‘Come Sail Away.’”
Saturday’s strong showing capped a highly successful marching season for Otsego, which took home a total of 24 trophies. And that number could have been even higher had the band not been forced indoors at one performance due to a thunderstorm.
“Every performance got better, I felt, and the emotional qualities they portrayed in their performances were top notch,” Piersma said.
The reason for the band’s success, according to Piersma, was simple: dedication.
“Their attendance for practices was very good and taken seriously,” Piersma said of the band members. “When kids were sick, they were diligent to catch up with their section leader to work on what they missed.
“Sick happens, but doing the work to make it up, especially with 5 other classes, says loads about a group.”
As a reward for their hard work and the success they enjoyed, members of the band received a police escort back to high school upon arriving in town on Saturday evening.
“The kids were thrilled with that,” Piersma said. “Many have never experienced it. They certainly deserved it, considering the season they had.”
And while this season just ended, Piersma is already has his eyes on the future.
“I look forward to next year,” he said.
