Oct. 12—MITCHELL — It was a long day of performing and competition Saturday for the Mitchell High School marching band, but the work paid off when the band returned to Mitchell having delivered what its director called one of its strongest performances of the competition season.
The band took sixth place in the finals of the Dutchmen Field Championship in Orange City, Iowa. Joel Van Peursem, director of the Mitchell High School marching band, said he was proud of how the students performed and the energy they brought to the field.
“They truly delivered the best performance of the year, so I was very, very proud of them,” Van Peursem told the Mitchell Republic. “Lots of energy, and you can tell when we marched off the field that the students felt they had provided their best performance, as well.”
The band placed fourth in the preliminary round of the 4A category, which included the largest high schools competing at the event. Of the 28 high schools that competed Saturday, Mitchell advanced to the finals and finished sixth.
Bellevue West High School of Omaha, Nebraska, took first place, followed by Jefferson High School of Sioux Falls in second and West Central High School of Hartford in third. Lennox High School finished fourth, Bellevue East High School of Omaha, Nebraska, placed fifth, Mitchell finished sixth, Okoboji High School of Okoboji, Iowa, took seventh and Omaha Central High School placed eighth.
Van Peursem said the band improved in areas it had worked on in recent weeks, and he was pleased with how those improvements carried over into its performance. Mitchell was also competing against several schools considerably larger than the high school.
“Musically, it had the most energy, the most dynamics and they played it the best they had. You could also tell the energy translated into some of the visual aspects, as well,” Van Peursem said. “It was fun for our students to be able to see some of those bigger schools and actually compete with them.”
Competing against larger schools presented a challenge, as did the heat and wind. Van Peursem said weather conditions improved as the competition progressed toward the finals, giving the band a better opportunity to finish the day with the performance it had been working toward.
The competition also came after an early start in Mitchell.
Earlier Saturday, the band marched in Mitchell’s Blue and White Days parade, part of Dakota Wesleyan University’s homecoming celebration. The parade is an event the band enjoys because it gives students a chance to perform for a local crowd before traveling to compete elsewhere.
The early start and bus ride to Orange City made for a long day, but Van Peursem said the students maintained their energy throughout the performances. He noted that the schedule can be particularly tiring for the brass players, who must keep playing after already performing that morning.
“I think the disadvantages probably outweigh the advantages because it makes my brass players more tired playing all that in the morning first, and also just the length of the day,” Van Peursem said. “But the students love it because it’s the home crowd, and they’re all very receptive to it, so it’s lots of fun to be able to do that first.”
The band will perform its rescheduled Lights Out show Friday evening at Joe Quintal Field. The annual event was postponed earlier this season, giving the band another opportunity to perform for the Mitchell community before the end of its competition schedule.
The performance will also give the band another opportunity to refine its show before competing Saturday in the Omaha Marching Invitational. That competition will conclude the band’s competition season.
Van Peursem said he is pleased with how far the band has come in the weeks since students began practicing their show and routines. As the season wraps up, the band will continue working on the details that can make a difference in its overall performance.
“This week we’re going to focus a lot on the intensity of music, continuing through the end of phrases so that the phases don’t die off with the intensity of the music. And then we’re going to focus a little bit on the individual marchers still, polish up some of that marching technique,” Van Peursem said. “I’ve been really, really proud of the students, (particularly) their willingness to just get better.”