‘Spot on’: American Fork High School marching band places 8th in the country
Nov 22, 2024, 7:00 AM
The American Fork High School Marching Bad performs "Spot On" in Indianapolis at the Bands of America Grand National Marching Competition on Nov. 14. (American Fork High School)
(American Fork High School)
AMERICAN FORK, Utah — American Fork High School’s marching band performed “Spot On” over the weekend at a national competition, ranking eighth in the country at the finals of the Bands of America Grand National Marching Competition.
Orien Landis, the school’s band director of six years, has long aimed to get the marching band to the national finals. The last time American Fork High School was a grand national finalist was in 1995.
The competition starts with more than 100 bands, whittled down over two days of preliminary competition to the top 30 semifinalists. The semifinalists perform a second time, and the top 12 are chosen as grand national finalists. From there, the top 12 perform a third time to determine the winners.
Two years ago, the band made it to nationals and placed 13th, missing the top 12 by just a few tenths of a point. “(It) was a little heartbreaking when you’ve been working four years to get there, but it didn’t really deter us,” Landis said.
He said placing 13th was a good learning experience for the kids, as “you can’t have success all the time.” So, the American Fork High School marching band kept on working.
Drum major Jared Rajaratnam said since May, the band has focused on making it to finals.
“We really just manifested it, and we all wanted to push and try super hard this season and put it in the work to reach that goal, and we are happy and really satisfied we were able to do that,” said Rajaratnam, now in his fourth year performing in the band.
