Catawba Ridge, Nation Ford bands dueled again for a state title. Guess who won
.JPG)
Close as they are on a map, the top two marching bands from Fort Mill were even closer atop the 4A standings at Saturday’s state championship.
Catawba Ridge won. It was the second state championship for the school in three years.
Catawba Ridge topped Nation Ford by a single point. Nation Ford has been the champion nine times.
The 4A finals were a highlight reel of tri-county bands. Five of the 16 finalists statewide came from York or Lancaster counties. York finished fifth, followed by Indian Land in seventh and Northwestern at No. 12.
For comparison, Nation Ford was more than four points ahead of the third place band, T.L. Hanna.
Nation Ford director Ray Linkous said his staff was extremely pleased with the performance.
“Most band programs nationwide are still feeling the effect of COVID, and it has been a challenging year for all of us in regards to regaining the skills and culture we had before the pandemic,” Linkous said. “For us at Nation Ford, those challenges have come with many positive and valuable learning experiences which resulted in a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.”
Students worked hard and grew this season, and Linkous said it was an honor to compete with talented 4A bands from across the state.
“We were particularly proud to compete as closely as we did with our fellow Fort Mill family at Catawba Ridge, who are now the reigning 4A Champions,” Linkous said. “The directors and staff at Catawba Ridge run an outstanding program and are fierce competitors who truly push us to be the best we can be.”
Posted scores from the championship show just how close the Copperheads and Falcons were. The schools actually split the judges’ scores on music performance. Catawba Ridge was best in individual music, Nation Ford best in ensemble. Nation Ford finished ahead of Catawba Ridge, and best overall, in overall music performance.
Catawba Ridge shined in visual performance and overall effect. The Copperheads swept all four judges from those categories. Nation Ford was second best. Out of 44 rankings from individual, single-judge component scores to overall totals, only twice would either band fall out of the top two spots.
The result Saturday was almost a mirror of the upper state championship, when Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford finished even closer together. Catawba Ridge won upper state by a tenth of a point. There, Nation Ford won overall music and effect. Catawba Ridge won overall visual. The schools split across individual and ensemble scores throughout judging. The 93.2 score for Catawba Ridge and 93.1 for Nation Ford were more than three points clear of the field.
The upper state scores for Catawba Ridge and Nation Ford were the two highest in upper state or state competitions so far this season. The state championship scores for both scores are the highest in state championship performances so far.
This season continues a championship trend in Fort Mill. Discounting 2020 when COVID-19 canceled competition, at least one band from a Fort Mill school has won a state championship in all but one year since 2008. Twice in that span, including last year with Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge (3A at the time), two Fort Mill bands won state titles.
1A, 2A, 3A bands
Most area bands that participated Saturday were in 4A, but several smaller schools competed too.
South Pointe finished 10th in the state 3A competition. South Pointe was as high as fifth and sixth in some components, and scored no lower than No. 13 in any of them.
In 2A, Andrew Jackson finished sixth in the state. Andrew Jackson scored as high as fourth in its competition for ensemble and overall visual performance.
York Prep was fifth and Lewisville finished at No. 13 in 1A. All area bands that marched Saturday, across classifications, qualified through upper state championships where they scored in the top eight.
5A marching band
The largest bands statewide haven’t marched yet. There isn’t an upper state competition. Preliminary and final rounds will be Saturday at Irmo High School.
Rock Hill will march at 11:15 a.m. in the prelim round, followed by Fort Mill at 1:15 p.m. and Clover at 1:45 p.m. The top 10 bands will advance to the championship round, with performance start times from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 5:04 PM.
