Marching unit places at state, national competitions

The Boyertown Area High School’s marching unit has placed first in their group at the state competition and fifth at the national competition.

The competition, sponsored by USBands, was held at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown on Saturday, Nov. 4. They competed against nine other schools in their group and earned a final score of 92.2.

“They’re a great group of students—they’re resilient and work extremely hard,” said Brian Langdon, director of bands at Boyertown Area High School. This was the marching unit’s third year competing and second year attending the national competition.

The marching unit had a very successful competitive season overall, placing first at every single show they attended and receiving recognition for all aspects of their show, including performance, visuals, and color guard.

The marching unit is also the biggest it has ever been, welcoming 48 new members this year alone. Even with so many new faces, the group remains a close-knit community.

“We do everything together and we do it for each other,” says senior Chad McKenrick, head drum major.

USBands is an association that provides high school band programs with a competitive circuit featuring top judges from across the continent and a venue for the US Scholastic Band Championship. It is owned by Youth Education in Arts and is the largest competitive circuit of its kind in the nation.