SS3    (9:09)  -  LeRoy

 

All 150 members raised their hats in unison.
Within hours, the band got news that validated their feelings: They had beaten the 14 other bands in their class and achieved the highest accolade of the season - a state championship.

"Everybody came off that field with a smile on their face," said tenor saxophone player Jon Swengler, 16. "We knew we had put out our best."

The state championship is the final competition of the season for the band, which also performed in New York City's Columbus Day Parade. This is only the second year that the band has competed at the New York State Field Band Conference championship, and last year the band came in second place, just behind another local band, Copiague High School.

From the stands Sunday, band parents offered support and watched as every step and note seemed to click just as it should. "It was so exciting to watch them," said Suzanne Kiesel, 40, whose son Connor, 15, plays trombone. "We knew they had done the best performance they had ever done."

Their winning performance was a nine minute-long repertoire called "Medusa," an original composition by Key Poulan of California, who arranges music for bands across the country. The band members, with hundreds of parents, drove up on Saturday and stayed overnight.

Kiesel, who is president of the band's parent association, calls herself a surrogate mom to the members. "I'm there for every mother who couldn't be there," said Kiesel, who does everything from applying Band-Aids to braiding hair.

This year marked director Aaron Evens' first year with the band. Though only 22 years old, Evens has 13 years of marching band and drum corps experience and parents said they welcomed his "fresh ideas and approaches" to the performances. Evens said he hopes to eventually build the band up to a national performance level and compete with other states. But he said he tries not to let the possibility of winning interfere with his larger goals.

"We're using band as one way of bettering students," Evens said. "It's about allowing each student to reach their fullest potential."

Huntington High School was one of more than 10 Long Island bands, including Walt Whitman and Brentwood, which finished second and third respectively, to compete at the championships. Evens said that while upstate marching bands traditionally have been hailed as the big contenders, Long Island bands are making themselves known.

"It's a place that's been a little overlooked in the past, but we've established ourselves as a strong force," Evens said.

Huntington and Walt Whitman are only a few miles away from each other and Evens calls their relationship "absolutely amazing." Swengler said the two encourage each other in a friendly competition.

Swengler is already thinking about next year and is dreading graduating and leaving the band. "It's bittersweet," Swengler said of the championship. "On one end you're happy that all the work you put in paid off, but it's also sad. . . . I wish I could be a senior forever and stay with the band."