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The Pipestone Area Marching Arrows earned second place in the field competition and third place in the parade competition at the Waseca Marching Classic. The band will compete next on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Tri-State Band Festival in Luverne and Big Sioux Review in Brandon. Contributed photo
The Pipestone Area Marching Arrows took second out of five bands in Class A in the field competition and third out of three bands in Class AA in the parade competition at the Waseca Marching Classic on Saturday, Sept. 20.
The band outscored Luverne, Park Center and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Public Schools and was bested by Rochester Lourdes in the field show. Band Director Dr. Zachary Ploeger said the band sounded more refined musically and cleaned up its marching since its first competition of the season in Rosemount the week before.
“I felt they did really well,” Ploeger said. “Certainly, a lot of the stuff from the week before that the judges pointed out, we incorporated as much as we could, and, in the judges tapes, we definitely got credit for some of those things,” Ploeger said.
He said the band is at the point of refining the show now and addressing some specific spots where the band can be more in tune or more together in terms of tempo.
In the parade competition, which was the first of the year for the Arrows, the band was outscored by Luverne and Stewartville. Ploeger said he thought the Arrows marched clean and sounded well.
Looking to the week ahead, Ploeger said he planned to add a stop with some drill and choreography to the parade show rather than just marching straight through. He said the band usually has some drill and choreography, but hadn’t had time to add it to this year’s show.
Next up on the band’s schedule is the Tri-State Band Festival in Luverne and the Big Sioux Review in Brandon on Saturday, Sept. 27.
The Tri-State Band Festival begins with the parade on Luverne’s Main Street. The parade starts at 9:35 a.m. and the Arrows are scheduled to begin at 10:05 a.m. The Arrows will be one of three bands in Class AA, along with Sioux Falls Christian High School and West Central High School. The field show begins at 12:35 p.m. at the high school. The Arrows take the field at 1:05 p.m. They will be one of three bands in Class AA, along with Lennox High School and West Central High School.
The Big Sioux Review in Brandon begins at 6:10 p.m. at the high school. The Marching Arrows are one of six bands in Class A, along with Sioux City East, Madison, Luverne, Harrisburg and Lennox. The Arrows are scheduled to take the field at 6:45 p.m.
Ploeger said he’s hoping that the hometown fans come check out the competitions, which will be closer to home than the first two of the season.
“Hopefully everybody comes,” Ploeger said. “Wear a green shirt, sit all together. It’s nice to see.”