Up on the podium, Abby  Zetzl, drum major and senior, conducts the band with her fellow drum majors, knowing 273 band members rely on her. The band members move to one of their 120 memorized spots on the field, watching Zetzl to stay in time.

Originally marching on the field, Zetzl said she remembers the band’s previous victory at the Bands of America (BOA) Grand National Championships in 2012, her freshman year. Despite the band placing second in 2013 and fourth in 2014, it is still in high spirits to present their show “Nine Lives” at Lucas Oil Stadium from Nov. 11 through tomorrow.
“It’s been really cool to see how [our show] has progressed,” Zetzl said. “And being able to see some of the younger members just really improve quite rapidly.”

According to Ashlie Sass, color guard member and senior, little has changed from 2012, aside from the show theme. The group still focuses on doing difficult drills and playing hard music in preparation for the show. Sass said there is a constant upward trend in the group. “There’s more pressure every year, but it’s not for the win,” said Sass. “It’s for your personal best show.”
Chris Kreke, CHS marching band director, shares the same sentiments. According to Kreke, the band’s goal is to continuously improve throughout the year and have the best show they can at the Grand National Championships, rather than replicating their previous victories in 2005 and 2012. “We can’t control what other people are doing. We can’t control the judging aspect of it, but what we can control is what we put out,” Kreke said.
Yesterday the band competed in the preliminary rounds of the BOA Grand National Championships with 97 other bands, and will continue to compete today. Then, 35 bands from that group will advance to the semi-finals tomorrow. Only 12 of those bands will compete for the Grand National Championships later that night. As the competition date nears, the group continues to work towards perfection and fine-tuning their performance. With a packed schedule of 11 hours of practice over the span of four days a week and an all-day competition nearly every Saturday, Alex Bublick, center snare and senior, acknowledges the difficulty of being in the band, but also the benefits that follow. “It can be stressful at times, but we’re always getting better at practice,” Bublick said. “It’s made me a harder worker and a stronger person.”
According to Kreke, the dedication from the band members is a main factor to the marching band’s achievements.

“There’s a long standing tradition of this group having really excellent performances and working very hard to make that happen,” Kreke said. “They try to make themselves the best at this activity, and it usually works out pretty well for us.”

With improvement being the band’s main goal, the results from the championship become somewhat trivial, according to Sass. For her, the priority is to finish with a great performance. She said the main objective is to perform the best show possible. “Finishing [my senior year] out with a win would be great,” Sass said, “but I remember last year, after we performed, it was the best show I’d ever done. I just want that again this year.”
Similarly, as Zetzl completes her senior year as drum major for the band, regardless of the results at the championships, she said she has gained a lot by just being involved with the program. Zetzl said she has gained many leadership skills, such as responsibility and teamwork, but has also learned what family truly means to her.
“(Marching band) taught me that family isn’t always the people you’re related to,” Zetzl said. “I wouldn’t be who I am without them, and I can’t imagine high school without marching band. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”