PEORIA, Ill. — Two local high school bands were top winners over the weekend.
The Morton High School Marching Band was crowned Grand Champion at the Illinois State Marching Band competition on Saturday.
Morton won Class 2A in the preliminaries, then returned to the finals for the big win. It was the first time in 36 years a school in Class 2A won Grand Champion at ISU.
At the University of Illinois, the Washington High Marching Panthers won Class 4A, then took every top honor, including the Governor’s Cup and Grand Champion, a first for Washington Community High School on Saturday.
(Morton High School Marching Band–Courtesy of Ken Zurski)
(Washington Community High School Marching Band- Facebook)
Eureka High School Band also competed at the Illinois State Marching Band Championships over the weekend, winning Class 1A and sweeping all caption categories in Music, Visual, and General Effect.
Eureka also set a record for highest 1A preliminary score (79.3), and highest placement (12th place out of 42 bands) in the competition’s history.
(Courtesy of Brian Wierenga)
