Wheeling marching band tops at Marengo fest
The Wheeling High School "Wildcat" Marching Band topped off an enormously successful competitive season on Sunday, Oct. 11, by capturing the title of Grand Champion at the Marengo Settlers' Days Marching Band Festival. There, the Wheeling band, under the direction of Brian Logan, competed in the Parade and Field Show Competition. The "Wildcats" earned 1st Place in Parade, 1st Place in Field Show, Best Percussion, Best Music, and Best General Effect, as well as Overall Grand Champion in a field of 16 bands.
The previous night, Saturday, Oct. 10, Wheeling started off its victorious weekend by winning a 1st Place in Class AA at the Lincoln-Way High School Invitational Field Show in Frankfort, Ill. The Wildcats were also awarded Best Music, Best Visual, and Best General Effect.
During this Fall's marching band competition season, the WHS Marching Band competed at five festivals with more than forty schools in its division, taking the 1st Place Title at all five festivals: Lake Park High School's Lancer Joust in Roselle, Ill. on Sept. 12; the Chicagoland Marching Band Festival, hosted by Wheeling on Sept. 26; Prospect High School's Knight of Champions on Oct. 3; Lincoln Way, and Marengo. The Wildcats were also awarded the highest scores in Music and General Effect at all five contests.
Logan's Wildcat Marching Band staff includes assistant director Andrew Sturgeon; Color Guard, Jen Burgdorff and Katie Walsh; percussion, Brian Spicer and Erik Eckstrom; visual design, Pete Weber; and student teachers Liz Troyer and David Brachman. Drum majors are senior Amy Bischoff and junior Chris Schwarz; Guard captains are seniors Tara Battaglia, Judy Lee, and Samantha Nielsen; drum captain is senior James Miles; and soloists are Lee, Nielsen, seniors Nicole Tselikis, Nicolas Rodriguez, and junior Billy Kort.
The Wildcats Field Show program, "Holidays: The Music of Ron Nelson," features "Rocky Point" and "Sonoran Desert."