by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Twenty-nine high school marching bands weathered the pouring rain Saturday for the 28th Zia Marching Band Fiesta.
Marching bands from New Mexico, Colorado and Texas performed at University Stadium.
"It's one of the largest regional marching band competitions in the Southwest," said Eric Rombach-Kendall, director of bands at UNM. "It's maybe the longest-running one in this part of the country."
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The preliminary competition started at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 5:30 p.m. The top 10 bands were supposed to perform in the final competition at 7:30 p.m., but plans changed.
"Normally, we would have a finals tonight, but because of the very bad weather and the conditions of the field, we canceled the finals event and just picked the top bands from the preliminary competition," Rombach-Kendall said.
Postponing the event was not an option, he said.
"These bands are coming from three different states," he said. "Many of them have already been on buses and stayed in hotels, so there's no possibility to reschedule."
Rombach-Kendall said seven judges from around the country decide the winners based on musical and visual performance. Four of the judges decide music, and three decide visual, he said.
"It's a composite of those scores that determine the champion, second and third place," Rombach-Kendall said.
While judges tallied up the scores, the UNM Spirit Marching Band performed pieces from the band Chicago.
Rampart High School from Colorado Springs took home the championship title.
"We came here last year and took seventh," said Chad Collver, director of percussion at Rampart. "This year we took first. Man, these kids are smart. It was pouring when we were warming up, and it kind of let up when we started performing, but we had a great rehearsal."
Katie Veronin, who plays mallet percussion in Rampart's marching band, said she was surprised the band won.
"It was raining and the mallets slipped out of my hands so many times," she said. "It was really scary."
Mark Duran, one of the conductors for the Las Cruces High School marching band, said he thought Las Cruces would win.
"I thought we did a lot better than we got scored for," Duran said. "A few people fell and we were kind of wet, but it wasn't really bad."
The bands had a lot of support, which was evident from the mothers huddling under a small roof to keep dry.
Barbara Jones, whose daughter plays in the Rio Rancho High School marching band, said it's hard work to be a band parent.
"We're standing out here getting ready to water them when they come off the warm-up field," she said. "Most of us work full-time, so we have to do this as a volunteer basis."
Jones said most parents put in about 20 a hours a week just keeping the kids hydrated and fed during their marathon practices.
"We give them each a cup of water - all 250 of them," she said. "And then we feed them all out on the field. We have Frito fries and baked potatoes."
