As he has done for the past four years, Wesley Arends, marching band member and senior, sets his alarm clock for 6 a.m. in order to wake up in time for the next morning’s marching band practice.

Since freshman year, Arends has been part of the CHS marching band. Tuesdays through Fridays, he participates in morning rehearsal from 7 to 7:40 a.m. before school and 3:40 to 6 p.m. after school. Even on Saturdays, the marching band members practice nearly 10 hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This dedication enabled them to claim first at the Bands of America (BOA) Grand National Championships in 2012 and second place in 2013.

Despite its hard work, the CHS marching band fell short of defending its national title last year. This, however, did nothing to dampen the marching band’s self-esteem and enthusiasm for this year’s championships. The CHS marching band will compete at the Bands of America Grand National Championships again this year at Lucas Oil Stadium from Nov. 12 to 15.

“Last year people say we got second and fell short of defending our title. For like the average fan, we did fall short of defending our title. But, for us, we had the best show we could have that year,” Arends said. “I know a lot of people, including me, had tears in their eyes just coming off that field. (2013’s performance) was different from 2012. 2012 was a different show, a different group. It was a different year. So what we didn’t win. We were thrilled.”

Chris Kreke, CHS marching band director, shares the same sentiments. According to Kreke, the CHS marching band does not talk about winning titles. He believes that if the band gives its best possible performance, CHS will succeed at the championships in the end.

“(Winning is) not the end goal of all of this for any of us,” Kreke said. “The goal with the students is always to make sure that we are as prepared as possible for those performances, that they have worked to the point where they are as perfect as they can be.”

Senior Lauren Hamilton has also been a part of CHS marching band since her freshman year. According to Hamilton, marching band has always been a large part of her high school life. It requires a lot of dedication and commitment because of the band’s large size.

With over 200 members including woodwinds, brass, color guard and percussion, the marching band is impressive to coordinate, Hamilton said. Each show has approximately 120 sets, 120 dots on the field each person has to hit. The marching band is her second family since she is with it more than at her own home, according to Hamilton.

“The amount of hours they spend with each other and the amount of hard work they put in is absolutely incredible,” Kreke said. “The work the kids put into making a show like this is incredible. I love watching it evolve over the course of the season.”

At the end of each season, the band must clean its choreography, a very tedious process, according to Arends. The marching band must make all the forms, the transitions, the marching techniques and play the correct notes to give CHS marching band the name it deserves.

According to Arends, Bands of America (BOA) is partners with Music for All (MFA). Together, BOA and MFA put on a series of championships throughout the year. The championships begin with a regional competition, a one-day event in which 20 bands compete. This leads to Super Regionals, an event held in four different cities nationally: Indianapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis and San Antonio. These two-day events with 50 bands competing begin with a preliminary round before advancing to a finals round where the champion is determined.

“And then culminating with all those is the Grand National Finals. It’s a four-day event—Thursday through Sunday. Thursdays and Fridays are the prelims. There are roughly 90 bands that participate. Then Saturday is semifinals, with approximately 32 bands. Then Sunday is finals, the top 12,” Arends said.

After winning the BOA National Championships in 2012, the excitement was palpable. Placing second in 2013 was also a momentous occasion for the marching band.

“There’s nothing to laugh at being second in the nation,” Arends said. “There’s only one group that’s better than us in the nation. The thing that really matters is that we had the best show we could ever have had.”

According to Kreke, the real excitement for the marching band happens before the trophy presentation. When the marching band came off the field in both 2012 and 2013, almost three hours before that award ceremony, the Greyhounds were extremely excited and proud of their performance and felt great about what they had done.

“We had given the performance we thought they were capable of,” Kreke said. “At that point, placement becomes very secondary.”

Arends said, “The idea of placement in marching band, well for the Carmel bands at least, is an illusion. We’re not going for trophies, and captions and placements. We’re going for perfection. The only thing we can take hold of is having a perfect performance. All we can control is what we do on the field. And if we have a perfect performance, that’s what matters.”