Fiery fourth

Everyone knew the competition was up for grabs.

Any of the top six bands could win it. A top contender could also finish as low as sixth.

The Marching Patriots ended up in the middle of that continuum.

Jay County High School put together a couple of performances it was proud of Friday as it finished fourth at the Indiana State Fair Band Day competition.

There was also opportunity to celebrate in the late afternoon, as the Marching Patriots won their second consecutive Class 3A percussion caption award.

“Fantastic,” said JCHS percussion instructor Mitch Snyder, whose section also won in 2019.

“It was quite an honor to hear our name called again today.”

The JCHS percussion section posted a score of 173, edging Richmond by one point for the Class 3A caption award. Northeastern, which is in Class 2A, had the next highest score at 168.

Overall, the Marching Patriots posted a total of 91.25 in Friday night’s finals, just 0.013 points behind third-place Winchester. (JCHS had finished third in each of the previous four state fair band day competitions.)

Muncie Central, which had won two of the five Central Indiana Track Show Association contests leading up to the state fair, ended up solidly taking the title with 93.625 points. It was the Spirit of Muncie’s third state fair title and first since 2014. (Muncie Southside, which closed in 2014, won six state fair championships.)

Centerville was the runner-up with 91.725 points. Kokomo scored 90.638 points for fifth place behind Jay County.

Band director Kelly Smeltzer had nothing but positive reviews for his Marching Patriots.

“That was a really incredible run,” he told them while standing on a ladder following their preliminary performance. “You need to feel good about that. …

“I’m extremely proud of the performance today.”

The percussion caption award could be considered a surprise given that the band initially planned to go without a drum line this year. With numbers in the section down, the show was initially written to only include the front ensemble. But the students pushed to have a drum line included and were willing to pick up new instruments in order to make it happen.

The result couldn’t have been much better.

“What I think went really well was just the intensity we came out with,” said senior bass drum player Nathan Manson. “Because at the beginning (of warm-ups) we were very tired and just didn’t play really clean. And then we kind of snapped into it in the warm-up arc. Going on the track and running a show like that brought me to tears.”

The victory was not only a repeat for the Marching Patriots, but gave them their third percussion caption award in the last six years as they also won in 2015.

Snyder, who said ‘’that’s exactly how I heard it in my head” as he walked off the track late Friday morning, explained that the last week or so of practice was intense. The focus for the group was on artistry, balance, blend and clarity, as well as helping the performers understand sometimes it makes sense, even for drums, to play quietly.

“It’s all about quality, musicianship and quality, knowing your role within the entire ensemble, knowing when to step up and sometimes knowing when to step back, not settling for anything less than what you know you’re capable of,” said Snyder. “We aim for today, state fair band day, not ‘How amazing can we possibly be at our first competition,’ but ‘How good can we be as musicians and performers and artists by state fair band day.’”

For other caption awards, Jay County finished third for musical performance behind Muncie Central and Winchester, third in Class 3A and fourth overall for general effect, fourth in Class 3A and fifth overall for both visual performance and auxiliary. Muncie Central was first in Class 3A for general effect, music performance, visual performance and auxiliary. Class champions were Monroe Central (Class 1A), Centerville (Class 2A) and Muncie Central (Class 3A).

There was nothing but excitement as the Marching Patriots walked off the track late Friday morning.

“That was phenomenal,” said junior trumpet player Gabi Bilbrey.

“Indeed it was,” responded color guard member Lia West.

“That was by far our best run of the season,” baritone saxophone player Aidan Garlinger said later. “It felt amazing. There was electricity. We were all hyped, but we were controlled. It paid off, everything we’ve done this season, right there on the field.”

That word — electricity — was on the minds of many of the Marching Patriots after their preliminary show. But their success went beyond that. They also came together and accomplished some of the goals they had been focusing on at band camp and during the last few practices this week.

“We have been working on our releases and finishing a phrase,” said senior saxophone player Lilly Hedges. “And I feel like we did a really, really good job. Cut offs were together. We crescendoed together. We finished the phrase, and we really pushed it all the way to the end.”

Three schools — Hagerstown, Elwood and defending state fair champion Anderson — pulled out of the contest because of outbreaks of COVID-19. The Marching Patriots donned purple ribbons in honor of those bands.

Jay County band members also wore “1994” buttons on their left should as a thank you to the class that brought in the most money during its Spirit of ‘76 fundraiser this spring.

With the fourth-place finish, the Marching Patriots have now been in the top five more times — 32 — than any other band in the history of the Indiana State Fair Band Day contest. (Prior to Friday, Jay County and Anderson were tied.)

Smeltzer said after a decent performance during the band’s preview show for the community Tuesday, he felt the intensity change during Wednesday’s practice. The Marching Patriots then finished Thursday’s shortened session — they let out early to allow more time to sleep because they departed JCHS at 5:25 a.m. Friday — with great run, he added.

“You still don’t know until you get down to the venue,” Smeltzer said. “All you can do is follow the protocol you have been and hope that reinforcement has worked throughout the season. They did that today. They actually exceeded that today.”