Band and choir perform well at Music in the Park

The high school band and choir returned from their Music in the Park competition in Denver this week with a second place finish for the band and a fourth place finish for the choir.

But music director Dustin Olsen said the groups were much closer to winning then they appeared.

In each category teams are scored points from two judges. Each judge can give a team up to 95 points, for a total of 190 possible points.

Thermopolis’ band finished with 189 points.

“Cody High School won with 189.5 points,” Olsen said. “We were only half a point away from winning first.”

Despite hoping to repeat, following a win at the same competition last year, he didn’t seem upset with the close finish.

Olsen added that although the band finished in second place, they beat more teams then they did last year because there was more competition this year in Denver.

Olsen said teams came from states like New Mexico, Montana and Wyoming to compete in the Colorado competition.

Along with the band, Olsen said the choir performed better than some schools twice their size.

Schools were separated into two categories: those with more than 750 students and those with less than 750 students.

“Our scores were higher than all the higher division schools,” Olsen said.

Along with both teams’ great performances, Olsen said he was most proud of their attitude and composure.

“When Cody won we gave them a standing ovation,” Olsen said. “We showed huge sportsmanship.”