This year the Pacesetters are preparing for their state competition on Nov 21st at Topeka-Stormont Vail Events Center. One way they prepared for state was the marching band competition on October 18th at University of Central Missouri.

“In the first movement we dance the whole time, and it’s very ballet focused and elegant, and it fits the peaceful music they play,” Pace member Jayden Latham said.

Starting with the second movement, they brought out the flags. It’s an intricate, and sometimes annoying movement,

“It’s a little harder because the counts are already slower, so then we’re not moving the flags as fast,” Latham said.

She went on to describe the third movement,

“And then tune three, we have big flags, which we’ve been working a lot with, because our timing has been off. But those are hard to use because you have to throw them up in the air and catch them,” Latham said.

The team has greatly evolved over the year from new coaches to new members.

“I think they’ve really been working us hard and really helping us improve, and I think that’s shown a lot throughout the season,” Pacesetter Ellery Henning said.

Freshmen on varsity made a great addition to the team connection. With Latham already knowing the new members, it helped them adapt quickly,

“There are freshmen on varsity this year, so then it created that bond already, and this year, I was already friends with a lot of the freshmen who were going to be on the team,” Latham said.

After a long day full of rain and hard work Pace finished their performances. Henning describes the outcome of the competition,

“I believe we ended up getting fourth overall,” said Henning. “I think it was pretty good. I think we presented a strong product, and it was good when it ended the season.”