This will be the last of the competition updates for 2025. First from over the weekend in Arizona and Nevada:
Morenci HS (AZ) – 11th in Class 1A, AZMBA Championships
Desert Sunrise HS (AZ) – 18th in Class 2A, AZMBA Championships
Gila Ridge HS (AZ) – 12th in Class 2A, AZMBA Championships
Basic Academy of International Studies (NV) – 3rd in Class, NMBC Championships
Good stuff from the West! And then, today:
I met Coral Charles a couple of times but never really got to know her until 2023. A mutual friend, the great Dawn Henry, who I had the chance to write for at Columbus and later Sabinal High School, recommended me. Runge had a rough go of it previous to Coral taking the position and the best way to describe it was that it was a rebuild. Covid also did not help that band program. Still, they made a 1st division at region and went to state finishing 15th. In 2024, they improved greatly and finished 10th. And, in 2025, Texas State Finalist in Class 1A. They finished 7th overall doing wonders with Luke McMillan’s Eye of the Storm. Wonderful stuff from Runge High School.
They are my first Texas State UIL Finalist. And, as I found out later, Coral owns dachshunds just like we have here. I watched the preliminaries from the Alamodome and caught the finals via streaming.
This ends my competition season. Starting next week, I will be putting out Pyware example videos of 12 of the bands that I wrote for. And then, it will be time to get ready for 2026.