Taft High School Marching Band
Simi Valley Competition

Simi Valley High School
Simi Valley, CA
October 16, 2004

Taft Marching Band Sweeps Field Show Competition

First place Band! First place Drumline! First place Color Guard! Taft Band, Drumline and Color Guard each won first place at Simi Valley High School's 36th Annual Band Spectacular competition on Saturday, October 16, 2004, sweeping the I-A division. [16Oct2004]

Photo by Mr. Mike Gerson:

Taft Marching Band, Simi Valley Competition, Simi Valley HS, October 16, 2004

Photo by Linda:

Photo by Amanda H.:

Band, Color Guard Sweep Competition

By Amanda Hutchings, Taft Tribune, Volume XLVI Issue 2, November 2004, page 1.
Taft's marching band and color guard made a clean sweep of the 1A Division at the Simi Valley High School Band Spectacular on Oct. 16. One week [sic two weeks] later, band and color guard took first place in band, second in color guard, and first in percussion. The band, drumline and color guard all brought home first place trophies for the first time in the competition. Drum Major Sarah Gerson said of the achievement, "I am amazed that we defeated competition that beat us last year."
Both band and color guard were very excited about their win. "All of our hard work paid off," Drum Major Amanda Freed said. Assistant Drum Major Jessica Thorsten was also happy to see their hard work pay off. Thorsten said, "Many people don't know, but we're out there, stomping around in the mud at 7 A.M. every day." Two weeks have passed since the band took second at the "Preview of Champions" and color guard took third. "The improvements we've made are amazing. I can't believe we did it!" exclaimed senior trombone player Mathew Stone.
The Drumline also came within three points of winning the coveted Percussion Sweepstakes award at the event.
Two weeks later, coming off their spectacular sweeps at Simi Valley, band and color guard went to Wilson High for the Golden State Fieldshow Competition. At Wilson, band took first place in the 1A division, color guard took second in the 1A division, and drumline took first out of eleven percussion lines at the event.
Six days after the Wilson competition, the marching band and color guard achieved the status of top ranked Division 1A Marching Band in Southern California, ranked by the SCSBOA (Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association). However, this ranking is tentative, pending the announcement of the scores for the upcoming competition.
Band and color guard compete next at Granada Hills High and Oxnard High in a double-header competition on Nov. 13.

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