Montgomery County United Marching Band concluded its finest season to date with a seventh-place finish at Friday’s Indiana State Fair Band Day. The ranking is the highest finish MCU has achieved in its short history.
Not since Southmont High School finished seventh in 1988 has a county band finished as high as the students from Crawfordsville, North Montgomery and Southmont did this year.
The MCU band consists of 64 students, evenly split from each school, and include 13 seniors.
The band is under the direction of the three county band directors. Southmont’s Elizabeth Newnum, North Montgomery’s Andy Simpkins and Crawfordsville’s Jon Tebbe work together for the band’s success.
Simpkins said the true secret to the band’s success is the students. The senior class has been with the band for four years.
“We had great leadership from our seniors,” Simpkins said. “They are the class that has been with us since COVID and they gave their all.”
Simpkins said the band improved with each performance this season. He said the students showed they were going to be something special.
“You could tell from the very first practice that this band had a chance to be very good,” Simpkins said. “Our biggest strength was the ability to stay focused and they persevered. We had them in the rain and heat and they never complained. They just wanted to be very good.”
The band even got better Friday, improving its score by several points from the morning performance. Simpkins said their Sweet 16 finals performance was the best of the season.
“We had great energy and emotion and we put together a strong show in the evening,” Simpkins said.
Student leaders had set a goal going into the state competition. They wanted the band to finish in the top eight. When the announcement came that MCU had earned a seventh-place finish, they celebrated. The celebration continued on the trip home. The musicians were met at Interstate 74 and State Road 32 and escorted by police to Crawfordsville High School.
Simpkins said the band wants to thank all of the sponsors, parents and school administrators.
“We could not do this without all of the community’s support,” Simpkins said. “We all come together, not as school rivals, but as a community doing something good for our students. What we have in Montgomery County is a special thing.”
