York County bands see success at state championship finals

Local marching bands took home wins and high scores Saturday at state championships.

Fort Mill High School finished seventh out of 31 bands from 11 states in the Bands of America Super Regional Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta.

Fort Mill also won awards for outstanding music and outstanding visual, a release states.

Fort Mill will practice all day Saturday and leave Nov. 8 for the Bands of America national championship in Indianapolis.

The yellow jackets take the field Nov. 9 and will compete among 100 bands in the championship. The top 12 bands from the semi-finals will advance to the Nov. 11 finals.

Rock Hill’s South Pointe High School finished fifth Saturday in the S.C. Band Directors Association Class 3A state championship at Batesburg Leesville High School.

Chester’s Great Falls High School finished in 11th place Saturday in the S.C. Band Directors Association Class 1A state championship finals. It was the school’s first trip to a state final in many years, said Becky Crouch, administrative assistant for the Chester County School District.

Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill took home its seventh state marching championship Saturday at the S.C. Band Directors Association Class 4-A championship at Spring Valley High School in Columbia. Nation Ford scored 95.55.

Nation Ford also took home awards for best music, best visual and best overall effect, according to a release.

York Comprehensive High School placed third with a score of 92.85.

Rock Hill’s Northwestern High School scored 86.70 to finish in sixth, a release states.

Lancaster’s Andrew Jackson High School placed sixth in the Band Directors Association Class 2-A state championship finals. Indian Land High School’s Warrior band placed seventh in class 3-A.

York Preparatory Academy, a public charter school near Rock Hill, achieved their highest competition score to date and placed 14th in the Band Directors Association Class 1-A state championship finals at Batesburg Leesville High School, according to the school.

It was the York Preparatory Academy Band of Revolution’s first year qualifying for the finals. The band has competed at SCBDA for three years.

It was also the first year a S.C. Public Charter School District school is represented at the finals, according to the school.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "York County bands see success at state championship finals."