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LaGrande, Jefferson, Klamath, & Corbett Sound Good, and South Salem "Orchestrates" a Sweep

What does a sportswriter/official do on a rare day off from games? Cover a State Championship, of course! A trip to the LaSells Sewart Center across the street from Reser Stadium provided the opportunity to hear the best High School Concert Bands the state has to offer.

(Updated with Complete Results for all classes.)

At the end of the day Wednesday, LaGrande, runner up last year in then 3A, moved up a notch to claim the 4A title in the Les Schwab/U.S. Bank O.S.A.A. Band State Championships. The Tiger band posted the highest score of any band from the 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, or 5A classes. Cascade, last year's 3A champion, edged former Capital Conference rival Sisters by 2 points for second.

Local favorite Philomath was 4^th., followed by Seaside. Only 8 4A bands posted scores during the season high enough to qualify for the state championship day. Douglas, Siuslaw, and Baker rounded out the 4A field.

The morning was devoted to 3A bands, and Jefferson, the defending 2A champion, sent their retiring conductor, Michael Bevington, out a winner, with a 2 point win over Clatskanie. Warrenton and Grant Union were 3^rd. & 4^th. in a field that also featured Amity, Bandon, Glide, and Nyssa.

Anyone with an ear for music and an opportunity to get to the Oregon State campus the rest of the week got to see and hear more artistic competition.

8 5A bands & 5 bands in the combined 2A/1A Band competitions followed on Thursday. Corbett claimed the 2A/1A title by 1 point over Riddle. In a half hour performance, that's probably coming down to 1 note by 1 instrument off 1 scale! Kennedy finished 3rd., 6 points off Corbett's mark. Lakeview was 4th., and Adrian 5th.

Klamath Union claimed the 5A title, with a score 1 point off the week's high mark set by LaGrande. Springfield edged Crescent Valley by 2 points for 2nd., and a tie for 4th. meant an extra trophy engraving, as Hillsboro & West Albany finished dead even. Century, Sherwood, and Summit rounded out the field of 5A state qualifiers.

Friday, the Orchestras from 18 6A & 2 5A schools took the stage, and South Salem orchestrated a sweep, and at the expense of their rivals from Sprague. South claimed first in both the String & Full Orchestra competitions, narrowly edging Sprague, by 4 points in the String competition, and only 2 points in the full Orchestra competition. South Eugene was a narrow 1 point back in String competition, while Reynolds was 3rd. in the full Orchestra event, well ahead of West Salem.

Reynolds also claimed 4th. in the String division, while Crescent Valley broke up the 6A monoply on trophys with a 5th. in the String competition. (With only 5 full Orchestras [North Salem], only 4 trophys were awarded.)

Additional String Orchestras qualifying for state came from West Salem, Lakeridge, Lake Oswego, Newberg, McKay, North Salem, Ashland, Grants Pass, David Douglas, and Clackamas.

Check also the article and photo of the winning South Salem String Orchestra in competition from the Statesman-Journal.

Finally on Saturday, 20 6A bands capped the week's music, and South Salem, the 4 time defending champion in the largest schools, cemented their claim to musical fame, adding the 6A Band Championship to the pair of Orchestra Championships won on Friday. The Statesman-Journal gave front page coverage to the Saxon's Band Championship.

Southridge claimed 2nd., and West Salem 3rd., followed by Lake Oswego in 4th., and Reynolds in 5th.

McNary, Wilson, Milwaukie, Newberg, Westview, Aloha, Grant, Sprague, North Salem, North Medford, West Linn, Redmond, Barlow, McKay, and David Douglas all were "heard from" as well in the 6A Band competition. 

The band / orchestra championships are the competitive equal of the OSAA athletic championships, and even feature a lot of the same multi-talented young men and women that also take to the fields and courts.

And like all the other State Championship events, it provides a great opportunity to catch up with friends and acquaintances from competitor schools.

More details are available on the OSAA website. 

And after covering the law suits and court proceedings that have dominated the High School sports scene this spring, it's a refreshing reminder of the overwhelming number of bright young talents that are coming from our schools, as the spring championship season starts to unfold.

CC

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