Courtesy of the Geller Family
By ELYSIA OUYANG
Sports Editor
On October 11, University High School Marching Trojan Regiment (UHSMTR) competed in the Rowland High School Annual Field Tournament, placing first overall in its division, second in percussion and third in auxiliary (color guard). Its division, 5A, included three schools.
UHSMTR has been working tirelessly since the summer to pull together its robot-themed field show, Sound Machines: The Music of Radiohead. This tournament is the group’s first field tournament of the season.
Drum Major Keira Monuki (Sr.) said, “We performed exactly the way we should; we didn’t overperform and we didn’t underperform. There are obviously a lot of areas in the show we need to work on, but we set a good foundation for future success.”
When asked how it felt to win, Monuki said it felt “weird because we haven’t done this well so early in the season before. I was expecting to hear our name for second or third place and when the announcer announced us as first I laughed a little because I was shocked.”
Flutist Dorothy Xu (So.) said, “Everybody freaked out when the judges announced second and third place and it wasn’t us because that was when the shock that we had won hit us.”
“This being my senior year, I can say without a doubt that we as a band have never gone into our first tournament so well-prepared. Marching band is an activity in which bands typically score in a certain range based simply on their size, so to score higher than larger bands after all our rehearsal in the hot sun was honestly so rewarding,” said Clarinet Section Leader Grace Xu (Sr.).
UHSMTR placed second in percussion, a category which includes both drumline and pit.
Drumline Section Leader Julius Vo (Sr.) said, “I couldn’t be any more proud of the drumline than I am now. They were truly amazing and I’m so happy to be a part of such an amazing group. We definitely rocked the tournament and although I think we definitely deserved first place, I’m glad we placed second [in percussion].”
“I’d say it was a very satisfactory first performance. Everything held together well, though there is certainly room for improvement. Personally I couldn’t be more excited about this season not only in regards to the drumline, but the band as a whole,” said Nicholas Markle (Sr.).
Auxiliary, or color guard, placed third in 5A.
Maggie Li (Sr.) said, “We’ve definitely faced a few obstacles earlier this season adjusting to a bigger guard and new instructor, but over time we have learned that we need to work together and do our part to ensure that we can be the best we can be. I feel like we are on the right track right now and we will definitely be very successful if we persevere.”
When asked how this year’s competition compared to last year’s, Monuki said, “I think that we performed way better this year, considering that our show wasn’t even finished at the first competition. Everyone was more relaxed and confident because we rehearsed the show a million times before the competition.”
“It was really amazing for me to see where we are at this point of the season, because the two previous years I’ve been here I don’t think we’ve managed to perform our entire show. This year, thanks to the stars aligning and just better planning in general, we’ve managed to perform our entire show and quite decently, at that,” said Assistant Drum Major Jonathan Myong (Jr.).
“The best part of the show, in my opinion, was during the fourth movement, where there’s a section with body movement and dubstep. After we performed that section I could feel the applause from the stadium. We were hoping for a good reaction from the crowd and the reaction we got was beyond my expectations,” said Myong.
UHSMTR will perform next before the homecoming football game on Friday, October 17 at 6:30 PM.