Senior drum major Jackson Buckley was on the field with the other drum majors praying to hear Richardson when the PA announcer began calling out winners. When he heard that RHS was going to the finals, he started to tear up.

“It was a good moment because everyone was just proud of themselves,” Buckley said.

The Golden Eagle Band placed top ten in the UIL Area B Marching Competition for the first time in more than two decades on October 21.

A week before, the band performed their marching show at the Region 20 UIL Marching Evaluation in Duncanville and received unanimous 1st division ratings from the judges.

“We competed really well, and I’m really proud of us,” senior bass clarinet player Mallory Palacios said.

Palacios said while waiting for the results, she was scared as she anticipated the band reaching the finals.

“All the other high schools had gotten it, so I was just really hoping that all of our hard work had paid off,” Palacios said.

After hearing they made finals, the band began to perform the drum major salute.

“We actually kind of messed up a little because we were so excited that we made finals,” senior drum major L.J. Mcelya said.

The band’s theme for this year’s performance was Category 5, based on the hurricane severity scale.

Mcelya said they had five scenes representing the different stages of the hurricane. It starts off sunny, then they pull out their umbrellas for the big storm.

The show is about the sun coming out, because at the end, they pull a big yellow sun tarp across the field.

“It just shows that after a hurricane, or a bad time, the sun will come out and everything will be okay,” Palacios said.

The band hired a professional designer to write the show, what movements they do, and what they play.

Senior Drum Major Carolyn Aguilar said the hardest part in preparing for the show was making sure she knew what she was doing.

“Being a drum major, you’re constantly being looked at and being put on the spot every single day,” Aguilar.

She said one challenge they had was teaching the freshmen the bigger picture of what they’re trying to achieve.

“I think once they were at that UIL competition, they realized like, ‘oh my god, this is so much bigger than we thought,'” Aguilar said.

Palacios said another challenge they faced was competing with new schools who have newer facilities compared to theirs.

“Sometimes you can kind of tell the difference,” Palacios said. “But with our circumstances, we did awesome.”

Senior bassoon player Jacob Muller said the band definitely improved in this season’s performances and have taken a big step for the future.

“Compared to other bands, I’d say we’re finally catching back up to where we’re supposed to be,” Muller said.