Saturday, April 13th was a long day for Monarch’s indoor percussion team. The band met at seven in the morning to rehearse at Monarch before taking a bus to the Broomfield Event Center to perform for prelims in the afternoon.
After more rehearsal back at school, Monarch’s now-four-time defending state champs made their way to Broomfield again to perform their routine “Dream State” at about 8:40pm. The team earned a score of 91.80, which made them 2013 state champions in the Scholastic Open division.
The routine, written by director Scott Reno and lead pit director Colin Spear, lasted about five-and-a-half minutes.
The team scored 89.7 at prelims, a score that comes from nine judges, three for each of the three categories (general effect, performance analysis, and visual effect).
This marks Monarch’s fourth consecutive indoor percussion state championship. “We put in a lot of hard work, individually and as a group,” said Zane Haertling, one of two seniors on the team.
The multitude of recent titles by this team is no accident. The members often put in five-hour practices on Saturdays, in addition to three hours practices during the week. “We rehearse around 12, up to 20 hours a week,” said Haertling.
“[Being in band] has been the best experience of my life,” said Haertling. “It’s kept me motivated and kept me working towards something. It’s crazy that we’ve won all four of my years, it’s something I’m very proud of.”
The dedication of the 22-member team was tested on the day of the championships, as Monarch was holding their prom on the same night. “I was kind of upset at first, but I figured the championship was a lot more important.”
