04/02/13 In a season filled with some of the highest scoring performances in school history, the Plymouth High School Winter Drumline, a program within the band department, recently completed their season by qualifying for the annual Indiana Percussion Association’s State Finals.

Completing the regular season, the drumline competed in the I.P.A. State Prelims at Avon High School on Saturday, March 16th.  The drumline competed in Class PSA competition after being promoted from Class PSAA last season.   Plymouth competed against a field of nearly thirty schools for a chance to advance to the state finals event.   Ranked in the top 10 all season, Plymouth gave an outstanding performance at Avon and was granted their third consecutive state finals appearance.

The state finals event was hosted by Ben Davis High School and the top fourteen schools in Class PSA competed for the championship.   “This was the best season that our drumline has had in a long time.  We placed in the top five at every show we attended and many of those shows had over twenty groups competing.  Our students really worked harder and more efficiently in the pre-season this year and gained an early advantage on some of the best groups in the state,” said Plymouth band director Bryan Ames.    “We finished in twelfth place our first year in Class A and we wanted to make sure that we made the top ten groups this year.”   During the award ceremony, Plymouth was announced as ninth place in the field of fourteen state finalists.  “We really wanted to be a little higher this season, but we definitely placed better than last year.  Our kids did really well in the Visual category placing as high as third place.  This was another building year for us.  We set our goals and standards higher this year and we will do the same next season.”

The medalist groups were as follows:  3rd place and bronze medals went to Zionsville; 2nd place and silver medals went to Avon; 1st place and gold medals went to Northview.

“I was really proud of our kids this winter.  They grew as musicians, performers, and leaders and took our program to the next level.  I can’t wait until next season and this year’s show is going to be hard to top.”

Congratulations to all of the members of the Plymouth Winter Drumline on a great season and their third consecutive trip to state finals.  Members include:

 

Snare Line:  Zach Lee, Ben Piazza, and Will Houser

Tenor Line:  Patrick Gouverneur, and Konnor Smith

Bass Line:  Chandler Price, Blake Keefe, Sophia Smith, and Tyler Petzke

Cymbal Line:  Kent Gosky, Jessica Beagle, Eric Burch

Guitar:  Jacob Harley

Dancer:  Ty Shively

Keyboards:  Korie Rice and Sarah Tanner

Mallets:  Brandon Knepper, Taylor Scott, Eric Jung, Ian Rettig, and Missy Hill

Auxiliary Percussion:  Shannon May, Cameron Carter, and Aaron Whitley