After hours of practice, track shows and morning and evening shows at the Indiana State Fair…the results are in.  To a crowd of nearly 6,000 people at the evening performances, 19 of the preliminary 49 bands played their hearts out.

Earlier in the evening radio announcers from 98.3, Dave Snow and Brent Witlock, were reporting excellent performances from bands like that of Hagerstown which placed 2^nd in the small band competition in the morning show and have the second longest finals streak of 17 consecutive years.  They placed 8^th overall in the morning performance, playing to a setting sun in the evening performance.

Richmond High School

Then Richmond took the field and the crowd again went wild watching their program “What Comes Around.”  The sound was exciting and we are told “if you saw the performance you would know why,” as the crowd cheered the band.  The music was moving, both upbeat and solemn, a lively performance with amazing transitions.  Richmond finished second overall in the morning performance.

Other Wayne County bands put in solid performances.  Centerville came in 3^rd in the morning show small band competition, and 11^th overall.

Northeastern put in a great performance equal to the level they rose to in 2009 when they won 3^rd place, according to onlookers.  Their show included great “visual aspects.”  Based on crowd response from other schools they could be considered the “people’s champion,”according to 98.3 radio announcers covering the competition live.

The final results of the sweet 16 evening standings are as follows:

Northeastern

Richmond       #3

Northeastern   #4

Winchester      #8

Hagerstown     #10

Centerville       #11

East Central Indiana which includes Wayne County and Randolph County (Winchester) dominated the sweet 16 this year, taking five of the top 11 spots at the State Fair Band Day competition.  Lincoln High School also placed 20th in the morning competition.

Congratulations to all the bands for making it well into the sweet 16 bands this year at band days.  You should all be proud of your performances and making it this far!