TOWAMENCIN – When winning a competition, congratulatory prizes certainly vary in greatness. Some may be as simple as a handshake and a ‘job well done’, some may be a plaque to hang on the wall of your living room, and some may be a nine and a half foot tall, golden trophy.

Yes, placed on North Penn’s band room floor, nine and a half feet high, is the hallmark of excellence attained through the hard work and skilled musicianship of more than 100 members of North Penn’s Marching Knights, marking a first place victory in the US Bands Championships.

This past Saturday, members of North Penn’s Marching Knights hopped on a bus for a 3 hour drive to East Rutherford, New Jersey, where they would have the chance to show judges what they had been so diligently working towards for the past several months in a setting very different from Crawford Stadium.

MetLife Stadium was their destination, home to the New York Giants.

“The National Championship is the ultimate performance in the US Bands Marching Band Circuit. It’s one of the circuits we compete in over the course of our competition season. [US Bands] holds their national championship show at MetLife,” said marching band Director Michael Britcher.

Nationals are not new to most of the members or to Britcher, but playing in such an immense stadium still excites everyone.

“There’s nothing like stepping out of that tunnel and onto that field at a professional stadium because it’s just really overwhelming to the senses. It does take some getting used to… but it’s certainly a really cool experience,” mentioned Britcher.

Even for the seasoned veteran, stepping foot onto an arena such as MetLife Stadium is unlike most places they’ve played at before.

“It’s a big rush of energy performing under the lights of an NFL stadium. We all had so much adrenaline, but we focused on that energy into the best show of the year. It was really fun and memorable,” said senior percussionist Jonathan Hatton, grinning as he recalled the moment.

The Marching Knights walked onto the field aware that they needed to out-perform some of the best bands on the East Coast, including Dartmouth High School, a formidable rival who stood in the way of a win.

“Dartmouth has won five open, five of the last six years, so they are a perennial favorite in that class. We have not been to the five open championships in a number of years, but they’re a band that we have tremendous respect for. We hoped it was either going to be us or them when it came down to the end, and we knew that they were going to be towards the top. But it was a tremendous accomplishment to stand on the field with, compete with, and defeat a program like that,” said Britcher.

The Knights arrived on top of the evening’s performers with a score of 97.950, beating Dartmouth by a mere tenth of a point. North Penn also took home the award for ‘best general effect’.

But with success, comes hard work and grit. For those who traveled to the high school in the summer, had sports practice outside in the fall, or showed up late at night for a meeting on a rainy school night, you know what I’m talking about. The members of the Marching Knights put great amounts of effort into practicing, perfecting their performance and constantly working to improve their sound and visuals.

“It started back in camp in August and since then we have perfected the show to what we showcased on Saturday. The excellence in performing happens on the practice field at North Penn, that’s where the real champions emerge,” said Hatton.

And without such dedication, the Marching Knights would’ve never been able to bring home the honor. Thanks to devoted teachers, directors, musicians, and all involved, the band season has been an outstanding one not only for the band, but for the entire school as well.