On Nov. 7, The Dartmouth High School band marched its way to Best Visual Performance and Best Percussion at the Division 5 USBands National Championships in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

They won second place overall out of 14 bands with a score of 97.125 out of a possible score of 100 coming in behind Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School, who won with a score of 97.363. Newtown High School of Newtown, Connecticut came in third place with 96.413.

Dartmouth set the competition abuzz with their final performance of their field show, “Into the Hive.” The show integrates musical and visual representations of an army of bees, working together cohesively on the field as bees would in a hive.

“We don’t have any regrets,” said Dartmouth High School Director of Music Bill Kingsland. “I’m good with the outcome, I’m not looking back.”

This marks another year in a nearly two-decade-long string of top three wins. Dartmouth’s band and color guard have consistently made appearances and wins ranging from third to first place at Nationals for the last 15 to 20 years, said Kingsland.

Other than their percussion, which was recognized for its excellence at Nationals, the band’s marching ability is of the highest caliber, Kingsland said. Additionally, he continued, they have a comparatively small wind section for a Division 5 team.

“It was really good, the best overall outcome I could expect,” Kingsland said. “... [The band] performed at a very high level.”

Dartmouth’s bumble bee-inspired show has now been retired with no telling what next season’s theme will bring. Kingsland’s son, Tyler, has already been brainstorming some potential ideas though the rest of the band’s staff won’t begin seriously narrowing down the theme until after the holidays.

Though the fall season is over, there is “no big off season” when it comes to band, Kingsland said. Winter percussion and color guard will begin after Thanksgiving break while band will be continuing with their technique practice, Kingsland added. Throughout the year, the band will have musical performances, the nearest one being a holiday musical performance.

“There’s always something to prepare for,” Kingsland said.