*This story was originally printed in the December 2016 issue of the Eagle Eye*

During the 2016 band season, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Eagle Regiment steadily progressed, obtaining better scores at each competition.

For seven months, in preparation for competition season, the band practiced two to four days a week.

“Practicing so many days a week is really taxing on a person, but especially for the people who have been there for four years, it’s something that now that it’s over I wish I can re-live,” drum major Shane Chovnic said.

Early on in the season the band placed second at a competition held at Flanagan High School.

At the Park Vista competition in Lake Worth, the Eagle Regiment placed first overall. In addition, they were awarded first place in visual, music, percussion and color guard.

The Bands of America (BOA) competition took place from Nov. 9-12. At BOA, they participated in prelims, where all 35 participating bands perform and 12 are chosen to advance to finals.

The Eagle Regiment had not attended this event since 2004, but was able to place ninth out of 35 bands across the Southeast. They obtained a score of 92 and qualified to continue.

On Nov. 12, Eagle Regiment won second place with a score of 93.50 at the 2016 Florida Marching Band Coalition (FMBC), semi-finals competition. The band lost in the finals to park Vista High School, who won by a marginal .9 points.

“They improved exponentially at every band rehearsal and proved a lesson to themselves, which is to never give up and always keep pushing through because you never know what will happen,” Band Director Alex Kaminsky said.

The Eagle Regiment walked away from their competition season as the second best band in Florida and Regional Grand Champions.