MAKING STATE: Mighty Greyhound Band advances beyond Area, makes school history

Members of the San Benito High School Mighty Greyhound Marching Band are seen here in Laredo following their performance at the UIL Area Marching Band competition on Saturday. (Photo by Leanna Lopez)

By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com 

“It’s an honor to be in the Greyhound band,” said Ingrid Ledbetter, 16, a junior at San Benito High School and the clarinet section leader for the San Benito High School Mighty Greyhound Band.

Ledbetter was referring to the band’s first-ever advancement to the UIL State Marching Competition. An ecstatic Ledbetter explained on Monday, “I mean, we were expecting to win; we have been working really hard since the summer. We worked really hard for this.”

Of 42 bands that competed in the area competition this past weekend in Laredo, the Greyhound band placed fourth and secured a spot as state qualifiers. San Benito CISD’s Director of Bands Willie Perez spoke on behalf of the entire city when he said, “Our community is very excited. It is an honor to be able to represent South Texas in the state marching contest. We are now the best of the best. Our students now know that anything in life can be accomplished through hard work.”

Paloma Pedraza, 17, a SBHS senior and Head Drum Major said advancing to state, “feels amazing, like all our hard work paid off.” Pedraza explained just how hard the band worked throughout the summer, saying, “We were here all summer long. We practiced from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. everyday.”

Senior Matthew Gonzalez, brass section leader, said “I’m in charge of the brass. I make sure they know what they need to get done…And it felt awesome that we did a good job at area. I was really excited.” Gonzalez, who has been in band since his freshman year, said, “I thought we had a really good shot at state this year. I’ve been with the band all four years, and this year was different. The instructors really pushed us to want this more.”

That extra work paid off.

For woodwind section leader and senior Iris Agado, 17, she also “expected to get into finals.” Agado added, “…but I didn’t know we were going to do so good in finals.”

Agado shared exactly how the band heard they were going to advance to the state level. She said, “When the band directors met to get the results, they came back looking super serious. We were all there. I was thinking to myself, ‘We did really bad, and it was all my fault.’ But then, they read the results and everyone started cheering. Turns out – they were just playing a really mean trick on us!” She laughed before continuing, “It feels so awesome we’re going to state. I am still in shock.”

Perez was beaming from ear-to-ear on Monday, when the News went to the band hall to interview the band and watch the live recording that launched the Greyhounds to state. Perez said, “It feels great to make history in San Benito.”

Additionally, Perez depicted some scenes from this year’s show, saying, “At the beginning, [the show is] kind of dark and mischievous. It adds an element of paranormal to the show, which is called Behind the Door – A Paranormal Experience. We have a girl who comes out of the door at the very beginning. She thinks she’s in a fantasy world or nightmare, and people are chasing her throughout the show. At one point in the show, we levitate her. At the end of the show, we convince her to join the Paranormal Activity Group, and she becomes one of us.”

Musically, the show produces an enchanting sound – very big, very rich, and inclusive of unexpected melodies. To watch the performance from an aerial view, the bands’ synchronization is almost mesmerizing, and their marching technique almost appears like a musically choreographed dance, in time to the rhythm.

Ledbetter added, “We were mentally prepared. The directors we have are awesome. They cheered us up every day. Mentally and physically, we were prepared for this.”

John Rodriguez, 16-year-old junior and drum major loves band so much, he said, “I quit basketball for band.” Rodriguez said the schedules were too conflicting, and he felt like he made the right choice. When asked if he could put into three words how the ’Hounds would be preparing for state marching contest, Rodriguez said, “Practice.” He paused, and added, “Practice. Practice.”

According to Perez, that’s exactly right. With the best 38 bands in the entire state of Texas vying to be number one, every practice day until November 6 will focus on enhancing what is obviously already a successful program for the Mighty Greyhound Band.

Drum Major, 16-year-old Jose Rivera is already a senior at San Benito High School. Rivera shared his plans for the future, saying, “I would like to minor in music, major in history. I still want to march (in band) at the college level.” He is considering several universities at this time.

When asked about his duties as a drum major, Rivera quickly responded, “It’s a lot of hard work. We clean the band hall a lot. Our job is to help serve the band. That’s our job. We’re supposed to know the counts in the show, the counts in our music, know when to conduct. Know when to cue someone in.”

Rivera, who said the ’Hounds are “big time solid” this year, paused before explaining how he felt about being part of history-in-the-making for San Benito. Then, Rivera said, “It feels amazing. It’s overwhelming. I never thought it would happen. The day of area, I never thought we would be among the elite, or like Mr. Perez said, ‘among the big boys.’”

Perez shared, “The music, the marching, the show, the execution, the color guard – everything fell into place this year. We knew early September that we had a really good shot.”

The director of bands also noted that one of the assistant band directors designed the show, and some music was borrowed from a Florida school. “Mark Padilla wrote the drill and did a lot of the visual teaching,” Perez continued. “Our percussion director Mr. [Dillon] Ingle wrote out all our percussion parts; Mr. John Simmons did all our color guard choreography and selected the colors of the show, the different flag designs we use on the field.”

According to strict guidelines, high school marching shows cannot exceed eight minutes. San Benito’s show lasts 7.5 minutes.

In a show of the city-wide support the band has received, a community pep rally will be held Monday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. at Bobby Morrow Stadium. The band, one of 10 Valley bands earning a spot at state, is set to compete at the UIL State Marching Competition at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m.

Read this story in a special commemorative edition of the San Benito News on Oct. 31, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.