Band: Lawrence Central, Northview, Western, Forest Park win state

By Jon Howard

Contributing Writer

INDIANAPOLIS – It was Indiana State School Music Association’s 35th anniversary for marching band state finals Nov. 1, but it was the first time ever for brand-new Lucas Oil Field to serve as host. The experience was met with mixed reviews as, musically, there was a huge difference.

The RCA Dome was not designed with marching band in mind. Musicians would have trouble hearing themselves, while sound was all jumbled from the echoes. Lucas Oil Stadium, on the other hand, featured the ability to drop a huge curtain behind the performing bands that took care of the former problem.

Even though there were a few falls, most participants liked the new surface to march on. Many even felt this environment was less intimidating because the fans were further back and higher up instead of practically on top of them.

Even though the fans seemed to like the new stadium, there were, however, some changes that they did not care for. The price of tickets jumped from $13 to $20, which most thought was pretty steep for a student event.

Another unpopular decision was to block off HUNDREDS of premium seats for a handful of judges and VIPs that clearly could have been seated elsewhere. Since the event was general admission and not reserved seating, this made things very confusing to find good seats.

Another change this year was the addition of semistates. It used to be only a two-step process to make to finals; this year it was three. Regionals used to be split into two sites – a northern and a southern per class. If you placed in the Top 5, you qualified for state.

Now, the Top 10 from each sight qualify for semistate against the other 10 from the other regional; the Top 10 out of semistate then move on. This prolonged the season by an extra week, which increased many schools’ budgets.

Others, like Warren Central Director John Hilmer, loved the new format.

In large-school Class A, many of the southern bands would have higher scores in the past than the northern ones. Other classes were reversed, but they were still unbalanced. Now, the truly best 10 make it. In previous years, Warren Central just missed out by placing sixth or seventh in regionals where as they would have qualified had they been in the north.

“Ironically, we actually placed fourth this year and would have made it,” said Hilmer, whose Warriors had not qualified for state since 2000. “However, I think our kids performed much better because that pressure was taken off of them.”

After all the changes, though, it was still about the students and all the hard work they had put in. This year saw many hotly contested divisions and, for the first time since 2001, not a single defending champion was able to repeat!

On the other hand, all four new champions had won multiple titles in the RCA Dome.

In Class D, the smallest class based on school enrollment, Forest Park was able to win its sixth championship by edging out two-time defending champion Cass. Other former champions placing in Class D were Woodlan (fourth), Springs Valley (fifth), Bluffton (seventh, Paoli (ninth), and Clay City (10^th).

Gibson Southern and Norwell each seemed to be in position to take the first Class C title on the Lucas Oil field. Gibson Southern was the defending champion, and the two schools had won six of the last seven championships combined.

However, they were only able to finish fourth and second, respectively. In the end, it was Western taking its ninth state championship, and first since 1996. Another former champion, Angola, placed fifth.

Since 1985, almost every Class B champion has been Concord, Greenwood, or Northview. (Western won in 1988 before moving back down to C, and Avon won in 2001 and 2002 before moving up to Class A.) Greenwood came in as the two-time defending champion, but this was Northview’s year as the Knights took home their seventh state title.

Tim Keller, Northview’s percussion instructor, was especially proud of his group. When asked about all the changes, he just smiled.

“Well, we won, so I guess we are in favor of all of them,” said Keller, who was very pleased with the sound quality in the new field, especially with the percussion.

Former Class B champions included Greenwood (second), Jasper (third), and Concord (seventh).

Class A was filled with many wonderful shows. Just like is often the case in sports, the bigger schools simply have better programs – with some rare exceptions. By nightfall, the home side of the stadium was packed.

Avon came in with seven consecutive titles, five of them in Class A. Carmel came in very strong, playing a very unique show of classic lullabies. Homestead was coming on fast as well. But in the end, Lawrence Central took home its fourth state championship to go along with the Bears’ 2005 Grand National championship.

Since almost every Class A competitor has won at some point, you can look at their final placing at the bottom of this article (as well as the other classes). To watch video of your band or learn more information, go to indianamarching.com.

On Nov. 15, many of these bands will compete again for a national championship. Here’s wishing all of them good luck as they represent Indiana very well each year.

If you would like me to feature your band at Grand Nationals, e-mail me at jandbhoward@yahoo.com.

The results:

Class D

1. Forest Park

2. Cass

3. Tri-West Hendricks

4. Woodlan

5. Springs Valley

6. North Posey

7. Bluffton

8. Southridge

9. Paoli

10. Clay City

Class C

1. Western

2. Norwell

3. NorthWood

4. Gibson Southern

5. Angola

6. Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran

7. Heritage

8. Scottsburg

8. Edgewood

10. Mount Vernon (Posey)

Class B

1. Northview

2. Greenwood

3. Jasper

4. Fort Wayne North

5. Plainfield

6. DeKalb

7. Concord

8. New Castle

9. Bloomington North

10. Northridge

Class A

1. Lawrence Central

2. Avon

3. Carmel

4. Homestead

5. Lake Central

6. Penn

7. Center Grove

8. Warren Central

9. Castle

10. Ben Davis