The Pride of Tanque Verde opened its competitive marching season with a first-place finish in the 2A Division at the “Rock the Den” festival at Mountain View High School.

Tanque Verde posted a score of 60.438, outscoring division competitors Pueblo, Mica Mountain and Sabino high schools.

The band also earned top caption awards for Music Performance, Visual Technique, General Effect and Auxiliary/Color Guard, falling just 0.5 points short of a sweep of every category.

“The kids have been working very hard, and I’m glad they were able to demonstrate it in competition,” Director Ben Johnson said. “We also had a blast watching the other Tucson-area bands perform.”

Johnson credited the program’s staff for helping shape this year’s show, including new district band director Diego Abeytia, returning staff members Lily Shaw and Randi Royer, and new percussion coach Ian McFarland.

“I am extremely grateful to have an amazing staff to help put together this show,” Johnson said.

The percussion section also turned in a strong performance, finishing just 0.05 points behind the division’s percussion caption winner.

The Pride of Tanque Verde returns to competition next week at the Flowing Wells Show of Shows, with a scheduled performance at 8:06 p.m. The band will also compete at the Southern Region Championships at Ironwood High School on Oct. 24 and perform at University of Arizona Band Day on Oct. 31st