BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- In one of the largest Northeast Regional Marching Band Championships in a decade, Neshoba Central High School (Philadelphia, Miss.) bested 22 other high schools to claim the title of “Grand Champion” at the annual daylong competition held on the campus of Northeast Mississippi Community College.
This year’s competition featured over 30 performances as the competition was broken into a Ratings portion and a Caption portion event with some bands choosing to compete in both sections of the competition.
“It was a great day for Northeast,” said Northeast director of bands Bryan Mitchell. “Not only do these potential students get to participate in the band contest but they get to experience our amazing campus and see what being a Tiger is all about.”
Neshoba Central, under the direction of Daniel Wade, Amanda May and Ashley Wade, finished the caption portion of the competition with an overall score of 93.68 and claimed the Grand Champions trophy, which stands at over six feet tall.
South Pontotoc High School claimed the Classes 1A/2A/3A Sweepstakes while Neshoba Central claimed the Sweepstakes award for classes 4A, 5A and 6A.
During its performance, Neshoba Central presented a cancer survivor-themed show with selections from “Fix It,” “I Will Survive,” “Rocky,” “Go Rest High on that Mountain,” and “Ode to Joy,” and ended the show with members of the band holding up photos of those who had been lost to cancer.
South Pontotoc, under the direction of Vance and Dale Wiggington, presented its 2018 show, “MirroriM — Exploring Musical and Visual Reflection.”
Place winners were named in each of the classes of competition.
East Webster High School took top honors in Class 2A while Calhoun City High School placed second and Bruce High School came in third.
In Class 3A, South Pontotoc was the top school while Kossuth High School was second and Mantachie High School finished third.
Kosciusko High School took top honors in Class 4A while Ripley High School was second and New Albany High School finished third.
In Class 5A, Neshoba Central took top honors while Saltillo High School was second and Lafayette County High School was third.
Brighton (Tenn.) High School finished as the top school in Class 6A followed by Hardin County (Tenn.) High School and Columbus High School.
Other awards are listed below by category.
Best Drum Major
2A Starkville Academy
3A Kossuth
4A Tishomingo County
5A Neshoba Central
6A Brighton (Tenn.)
Best Guard
2A East Webster
3A South Pontotoc
4A Kosciusko
5A Neshoba Central
6A Brighton (Tenn.)
Best Percussion
2A Bruce
3A South Pontotoc
4A Ripley
5A Neshoba Central
6A Brighton (Tenn.)
Best Majorettes
2A Starkville Academy
4A New Albany