The Grand Pacer Marching Band closed out its competition season with a “Superior” rating at the State Marching Band Finals competition at Hilliard Bradley High School.

The band qualified for state finals after earning a 1 or “Superior” rating, the highest possible rating, at its first competition in September and went on to earn the top rating at every subsequent competition, including the Buckeye Invitational at Ohio State University on Oct. 14.

Band Director Bill Fowles said the band did “extremely well” on Saturday and earned “Superior” scores across all categories, including music, general effect, visuals, percussion and auxiliary.

“It was satisfying,” Fowles said Monday. “We’ve gotten ‘Superiors’ in our last competition, so we knew we could do it again, but obviously a different venue, different set of judges … A couple bands before us got twos, and we started to sweat a little. The kids were super excited, I was super excited. It was a great way to cap off an amazing season.”

Fowles said the band will practice this week to prepare for the Veteran’s Day Parade on Sunday and will practice later this semester to take part in the Holiday Parade, but otherwise, the season is over for the band.

“It’s been a fun season,” he said. “When I met with our section leaders for leadership training (in July), we talked about what kind of atmosphere we wanted to have, what were some of our goals, and it was really rewarding to go throughout the season and start checking some of those things off the list. Getting ‘Superior’ rating off the bat, seeing scores improve throughout the season, (and) having a collective team mentality. We are together only as strong as our weakest section. They really embraced that this season. It was really encouraging to see. Everybody played a vital role in getting the success that we had.”

Fowles said even before the band stepped onto the field for its first official show, he could tell it was going to be a good year for the band.

“Looking back in August, seeing that (drive) right from the get-go made me really excited,” he said. “Overall, it was really encouraging to see them step up every time we raised the bar. Thank you to the community and all the parents that helped and supported us throughout the season. It’s as much their success as it is ours.”

Low brass section leader and horn line captain Gavin Schooley said the year was the “perfect season” to coincide with his senior year at Hayes High School.

“This is the most passionate, hardest working band that I’ve been able to work with,” Schooley said. “(I enjoyed) getting to watch the underclassmen grow and see them get passionate about building a really good show.”

Like Fowles, Schooley said he knew the year was going to be a success during band camp.

“I felt like everyone wanted to be there and give something to the band,” Schooley said. “I’m really proud of how hard everyone worked and how much care and passion they put into what they were doing.”

Drum major Katelyn Moder, a senior, called the end of the season “amazing.” Moder said that as one of the drum majors, she was one of the students who accepted awards during competitions. She knew early on that this was going to be a good year for the band.

“I’m really proud of what we did,” Moder said. “During band camp I could see the effort was there.”

Moder said she considered graduating early last semester but she’s happy she waited.

“I’m glad I stayed for my senior year because I couldn’t imagine a better way to end band as a high schooler,” Moder said.”

The highlight of the season, she added, was being on the sidelines while The Ohio State University Marching Band performed.

“That was a cool experience,” Moder said. “We got to see past Hayes (marching band) members and see how they continued (in band).”

Woodwind captain Mia Angulo, a senior, said ending the season with a “Superior” rating felt “really good.”

“I absolutely loved the show theme, and I’m really proud of how far we’ve come,” Angulo said. “It was great starting out, and it just kept getting better and better every single time.”

Angulo said her favorite part of the season was the Buckeye Invitational.

“It was just incredible, coming out into The Shoe,” Angulo said. “I knew it was going to be the best performance yet.”

Angulo said she enjoyed the show this year and felt it was a good way to conclude her time in the band.

“I think it was a really cool show to end on, and I’m definitely going to miss it, but it was a good season to end on,” Angulo said.

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.