Marching Band

2011-2012 “Pride of Big Walnut” Members

Field Commander

Thomas Hamann

Flutes/Piccolos

Rachel Darling

Elizabeth Finnegan

Abby Snyder

Jessica Stayton

Bella Goodrich

Andrea Dunlap

Olivia Daggett

Gabrielle Osbourne
Kate Sherman
Brynne Marshall
Megan Meier

Clarinets

Kt Berger

Selena Stewart
Maria Sagan

Ashley Meadegan

Erin Wampler

Julia Brown

Megan Almendinger

Marisa Allen
Janie Serna
Abby Tabor
Rachel Rak

Bass Clarinets

Allie Kopf
Alex Fitch

Alto Saxes

Melissa Grooms

Sarah Bravender

Mackenzie Pike
Jon Mozek

Jereme Miller

Joey Hoepfner

Sarah Barney

Tenor Saxes

Sierrah Becraft

Kristin Robbins

Bari Saxes

Grace Coffman

Josh Schirtzinger

Clarinets

Mellophones

Allie Dawson

Martha Arbogast

Ashleigh Mills

Andrew Nussbaum

Kaden Thompson
Bethany Rannebarger

Tubas

Nicole Thomas

Jeff Linn

Harley Alaby
Noah Miller

Baritones

Nathan Buxton

Jeremy Humbert

Tim Willis
Essence Jones

Trumpets

Daniel Violet

Mackenzie Thomas

Marcus Lacy

Nathan Randall

Alex Berger

Andrew Bowen

Nicole Walters

Jeff Tribble

Jessie Wenger

Tony Neja

Basil Eddy

Kelsey Kieffer-Jones

Amanda Drake
Nathan Bartman
Abel Walker
James Sawyers
Jessica Nelson
Amanda Thompson
Kyle Davis
Jennifer Wenger
Tristan Welch
Tyler Martin
Melissa Staugh

Trombones

Zach Flynns

Nate Fagan

Mea Wank

Patrick Rockett

Cecily Nelson

Sarah Nelson

Hannah Seabrook
Caleb MacDonald
Matt Curtin
Mark Boyce
Jessica Crist

Snares

Sean Conley

Zach Moore

Luke Hartings
Sam Nance

Tenors

Sean Tribble

Olivia Evans

Eric Branam

Bass Drums

Nici Bregel

Chrissy Schirtzinger

Alyssa Meier

Ian George

Cymbals

Morgan Dronsfield

Hanna Dearth

Kyle Bash

Jack Brown

Front Ensemble

Megan Meier

Carmen Balleste

Megan Glassmire

Becca Buxton

Mitchell Fitzsimmons

Ricky Pletcher
Hannah Flynn

Guitar

Brooke Thomas

Bass

Thomas Lanning

Color Guard

Amanda Galindo

Morgan Krupp

Sarina Avnaim
Nathaly Leyton

Ashley Watts

Alyssa Cira
Lauren McFarling
Christine Lechler

Each judge is only allowed to comment and score the band within their assigned caption. There are two music judges, one percussion judge, two general effect judges, one visual performance judge, and one visual effect judge. Credit is given for things done well by the band and deductions are made for errors or mistakes. Each judge works independently of the others and judges may not discuss or compare ratings until after all scores have been entered. The raw score of the points within each caption determines the rating that the judge gives to the band. For instance, in General Effect a score of 80-100 is a (I), 70-79.99 is a (II), etc. Each caption has it's own point values that determines what rating a band gets.

The minimum ratings bands can get to qualify for State Finals is four I's and three II's from the combination of the seven judges. By adding up the total ratings from the seven judges (I+I+I+I+II+II+II), the sum of the ratings needs to equal 10 or less to get an overall Superior rating and qualify for State Finals. Straight I's would give the band a sum of 7 and qualify the band for State. Ratings of I, I, I, I, II, II, III would total 11 and would not be a qualifying score.

The only time that TOTAL POINTS are considered is for placement trophies at the awards ceremony. Since the ratings determine whether a band qualifies for State Finals and the points determine placement, it is possible for a band to not place high enough to receive a trophy but still qualify for State Finals with an overall Superior rating. It is also possible for a band to place 1st in its class through total points but NOT qualify for State Finals with high enough ratings.

Bands compete in Classes C, B, A, and AA. Classification for MARCHING BAND (not concert band or choir) is determined by school size and not band size. The official enrollment figures for grades 10-12 that are sent to the State of Ohio are used in determining what class a marching band competes in for the fall season. Schools with grades 10-12 enrollment of 0-300 are in Class C, enrollment of 301-500 are in Class B, enrollment of 501-900 are in Class A and schools with enrollment of 900 or higher in grades 10-12 are in Class AA. Big Walnut competes in Class A with an enrollment of approximately 725 students in grades 10-12.

Color Guards are scored by two judges but their ratings or scores do not figure into the total points or the ratings used to determine whether a band qualifies for State Finals. The performance of the Color Guard has a huge and direct impact on the General Effect scoring and ratings. They are also judged on their marching skills and drill by the visual judges. The only time the Color Guard judges scores are used is in determining which Color Guard wins the Class.