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Wolverines march to 4th!

Snow, sleet cuts state competition short

The sun shines, snow and sleet fall, then it clears up.

That was the predicament facing the 1A Colorado state marching competition in Denver on Monday.

While organizers knew the storm would blow over, a delay also was going to push the last performance of the night to about 10 p.m., with awards coming at 11 - or later. So they called the competition off.

The Bayfield Marching Wolverines, hoping to move up a couple of places after final competition, had to be satisfied with the fourth-place finish they had placed during preliminary competition earlier that day.

"I am really proud of our musicians," said BHS Band Director Derek Smith. He said the band was a little nervous during the preliminary competition on Monday and made a few mistakes.

Still, they were focused and ready to perform as they readied to take the field for practice that afternoon. Then the yucky weather hit.

Olivia Gettman, a senior flutist for BHS, agreed that the Wolverines would have moved up in a final performance.

"When we were warming up, we were like 'We've got this!'" she said. The band's penalty points were in technical areas, such as when the drum majors did not place their instruments in the correct spot, and when one musician stepped out of bounds.

Still, she was pleased with her their performance.

"We have a good band this year," she said. "We are a strong and disciplined group."

Smith said he thinks his students would have moved up one or possibly two places during finals, but he was pleased with their performance and thinks his young group of musicians gained valuable experience for next year.

Now the band moves onto their concert practices, with performances slated for November, as well as the annual Christmas concert.