San Marcos Marching Band and Colorguard Best in Southern California
They competed in Division 2A of the SCSBOA (Southern California Schools Band and Orchestra Association) circuit, against eleven other bands. In order to qualify for championships San Marcos had to compete in at least three regular season competitions and have one of the twelve highest combined cumulative scores out of approximately 40 total bands. San Marcos was seeded 5th going into championships but performed 6th overall based on a random draw for seeds 5-8.
San Marcos made history by becoming the first band to win from such an early performance time and low seed going into championships. San Marcos was also the smallest band to compete with 51 musicians and 13 colorguard members. The cutoff for Division 1A is 50 musicians and the Royals competing in 2A, were outmatched by up to 25 performers. “This remarkable accomplishment is a testament to how hard each student works and how dedicated they have been for the last five months. This win is one of the most amazing accomplishments the Marching Band and Colorguard have ever achieved and I have never been more proud to be working as San Marcos’ Band Director. This is truly an incredible group of musicians and performers,” states Band Director Michael Kiyoi. Marching captionhead instructor Jon Fernandez stated, “it was great to end the season on the best performance of the year.”
San Marcos is conducted by Drum Major Niko Victoria.
Lindsay-Cait Campbell and Nikki Riedinger, Colorguard captains
Ray Ramos, Drum Captain
Kaeli Distefano, Front Ensemble Captain
Staff members include: Michael Kiyoi, Director; Lozell Henderson, Percussion Captionhead; Jon Fernandez, Marching Captionhead instructor; Idonarose Orr, Colorguard Captionhead; Jack Trieger, colorguard; Amanda Adams, colorguard; Marcus Loman, battery percussion; Allena Rivera, front ensemble percussion; Dave Tompson, brass.
San Marcos Marching Band and Colorguard will be performing a free community performance on Tuesday December 11th at 6:30 PM in Warkentin Stadium on the San Marcos campus. They also have a silent auction fundraiser this Saturday December 8th, from 5:00-9:00 PM at the Wildcat lounge located on Ortega.