Catawba Ridge goes back to back, winning another 4A state marching band title
This version of the Catawba Ridge marching band found itself in a familiar spot Saturday night, celebrating another state championship.
Catawba Ridge won the 4A title with two performances of its show, “This Version of You,” at Blythewood High School just north of Columbia. York gave this region two of the three podium finishers, earning a bronze medal and third overall with its show, “Stellar.”
Travelers Rest, a high school just outside of Greenville, won second place.
The Catawba Ridge win is the latest accolade for a band-crazed area. York, Lancaster and Chester County high schools now have a combined 64 state titles. The Fort Mill School District has 38 titles between Fort Mill, Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge.
Six judges across 18 music, visual and overall effect categories all scored Catawba Ridge in first place. The 93.86 score was more than two points higher than Travelers Rest, at 91.
York scored second or third in all but one of the 18 categories, finishing with an 89.5 overall.
Catawba Ridge won an upper state championship with its Saturday afternoon performance in the preliminary round. Chapin, the fourth-place overall finisher in both preliminaries and finals, won the lower state championship. The top 12 of 20 bands from the preliminary round made the evening finals.
Catawba Ridge had more than six hours between its two shows. York, whose final performance was delayed briefly by a train passing near the school, had nine hours between shows and was the last band to play Saturday night.
A winning marching band tradition
The championship gave Catawba Ridge a fourth state championship in five years.
The third Fort Mill high school opened in 2019 and has quickly become one of the state’s strongest bands. Since the 2020 season was canceled by COVID, only Pendleton in the 2A class has more state titles (five) than Catawba Ridge (four). Three other schools have the opportunity to match Catawba Ridge with performances the next two weekends.
York, likewise, has a notable winning tradition.
The five-time state champion has a host of podium finishes despite competing for decades in the same classifications with area powerhouses like Fort Mill, Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge.
Many more area bands still have their championship performances ahead of them.
Fort Mill, Nation Ford, Indian Land, Northwestern and Rock Hill will march in the 5A competition on Saturday. South Pointe will march in the 3A competition. Combined, area schools scheduled to march this weekend own 43 state titles since 1976.
Clover will march in the 6A championship on Nov. 1, the same day Andrew Jackson, Buford, Lewisville and York Prep march in the 1A event. Those bands combine for nine all-time state titles.
