The Lancer Regiment, Lafayette High's marching band, was named the KTRS Schnucks Athlete of the Week!
Mark Dorsey, president and general manager of KTRS 550 AM radio, surprised the Lafayette students and staff members with the good news at marching band practice the night of Aug. 11. The Lancer Regiment is the first marching band to earn Athlete of the Week honors.
"We’re blessed to have a wonderful staff with our band program," Lafayette band director Brad Balog said. "We are very much about trying to find a balance of maintaining excellence in our students' performance, having a strong work ethic and treating each other the right way, but at the same time having fun together as well. We’re very student-centric. Building relationships with our kids is first and foremost, the most important thing."
Balog and students Lexi Balog and Will Scott recorded an interview with Brendan Wiese, KTRS sports director and host of "The Big Sports Show," on Aug. 15. KTRS aired portions of the interview throughout the week, then played the entire interview during "The Big Sports Show" on the night of Aug. 18.
KTRS honored the Lancer Regiment for the hard work the students and staff members put into preparing their show for the fall, which they play at marching band competitions and at halftime of Lafayette football games.
Lexi Balog said the band practices for three hours a night, four nights a week during the summer, then practices until about 5:30 or 6 p.m. after school once the school year starts. The group also participated in a weeklong band camp at Truman State University in late July, during which they worked on the show nine hours a day.
"I’ve found a lot of my best friends through marching band: the experiences provided for us through summer rehearsals, competitions, football games, everything, all the opportunities it opens up," said Lexi, who has played the flute since sixth grade. "I’ve grown up around the program and always knew I wanted to be a part of it."
The Lancer Regiment's first performance at a home football game this year is Sept. 2, followed by its first marching band competition on Sept. 17 and the Lafayette-hosted "Contest of Champions" competition on Sept. 24.
Congratulations, Lancer Regiment! Watch a video of the KTRS interview below:
