Strutting their stuff
Ohio State students compete to lead band as drum major
Elaine LaVange’s hands covered her face so that she could barely see her son on the field through them.
Her daughter kept her head down, only occasionally raising it up to scream, “Go John!”
And Scott LaVange wiped tears from his face and took deep breaths to combat the tension.
Although John LaVange was in a dogfight to keep his job as head drum major for the Ohio State University Marching Band, he seemed to handle
the pressure better than his family and friends.
“He practices every single day. Every single day,” said Elaine LaVange of her 21-year-old son. “We can barely watch, and it’s so hard because we root for them all.”
The drum major competition, held Saturday at Ohio State’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center, started with six candidates from the band’s D Row: LaVange, of Warren; Konner Barr of Gahanna; Morgan Davis of Elyria; Joshua Guesman of Trenton; Kris Hamilton of Urbana; and Tyler Nichols of Kettering.
Each candidate, dressed in white shorts or pants and a red polo shirt, took turns performing in three different skill challenges: the traditional ramp entrance that OSU football fans see before games; a baton-twirling routine; and an assortment of aerial tosses with the baton.
The candidates’ bandmates played during the ramp entrances and baton twirling. Band Director Christopher Hoch, his staff, several former OSU drum majors and others made up the 16 judges. The interviews that candidates had with the judges on Friday night counted for 25 percent of their score.
“We are comparing strengths to strengths because there are so few weaknesses with all of them,” Hoch said. “There is a lot of pressure, but we have to prepare our band to perform in front of 100,000 people in the fall, so you have to be on top of your game when it matters most.”
The competition, which was attended by several hundred people, became even more pressure-filled when judges scored a tie between the 5-foot10-inch LaVange and his good friend Barr, the 6-foot-5-inch current assistant drum major.
This time, it was nearly impossible for their families, seated next to each other, to watch.
The two students were summoned back to the field for another round of the 100-yard ramp march and baton performance. During the march, both strutted with their legs high in the air.
Then came the baton performance, which LaVange started off with a standing back flip and ended with a high toss. Just before the baton hit the ground, LaVange grabbed it and yelled, “Yeah!”
Barr started his routine by tossing the baton several feet sideways, only to have it bounce straight back to him. He also mixed in a juggling act with three batons, which he did not drop.
The judges huddled a second time.
Then Hoch told the crowd that LaVange would return as the head drum major for the upcoming season, with Barr again the assistant drum major.
The two bandmates embraced and were flooded with hugs and high-fives.
“It’s very humbling to be a part of a tryout like this,” LaVange said.
Mrs. LaVange cried so hard that she barely could stand to congratulate her son. Courtney LaVange finally could look straight ahead at the field and screamed at her brother, “Way to go John!” Mr. LaVange nearly tackled his son when he went to embrace him.
“It’s an honor to represent the school we love like this,” John LaVange said. “But we are all family and go through all this together, so it’s hard right now.”
After the competition, young boys ran along the field, throwing batons in the air.
And Cyril Costoff, 90, who was drum major in 1944, showed them all that he still had some game by twirling a baton up and down.
“What these kids can do today is amazing and I hope the OSU fans appreciate it,” Costoff said. “I still think we strutted a little better back in my day, but they are just amazing.”