The Richmond Hill High School Wildcat Marching Band took its 2012 competition show to Valdosta last weekend to the Battle on the Border Bridgemen Classic at Lowndes County High School, where it came in second runner up with “Gladiator.”

The field of competition was fierce with 19 bands competing: three bands in Class A; two in Class AA; five in Class AAA; and nine, including RHHS, in the largest Class AAAAA division.

In the preliminary competition, Richmond Hill competed against the following bands in it class: Brunswick, Tift County, Camden County, Crestview, Houston County, Leon, Opelika and Valdosta. This group included bands from Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

In this round of competition, the Wildcats received “superior” scores across the board, including drum major, color guard, percussion and band. They also received second place in the “Best in Class-AAAAA” Award and second place in the Crimson Division-Combined Class Award. This gave the Wildcats an overall combined class score of 95.5, which put them in second place in the preliminary round and moved them into the final competition against seven other schools: Appling County, Crestview, Hardaway, Houston County, Leon, Wicksburg and Valdosta.

In the final round, a clean slate began for all bands. Leon, Crestview and Richmond Hill scored high enough throughout the day and in the final competition to take home the top three awards. Final scores placed Leon at 96.33, giving it the Grand Champion Award. Crestview had 96.26 giving it first runner-up. And Richmond Hill scored 96.06, giving it second runner-up overall.
Richmond Hill was also awarded the Best Overall Marching Visual Award.

“I am really proud of our kids,” Dr. Daniel Kiene, band director for Richmond Hill, said. “And by performing so well against bands from Florida and Alabama, as well as some of the top bands in Georgia, I feel we are moving closer to national recognition and events on a larger stage.”

In this competition, the Wildcats with 134 students, battled some high school’s with 200-300 students and color guards with up to 50 members.

Richmond Hill will have its final competition at South Effingham High School on Nov. 3.