Marching Spartans Earn Top Band Award at Atlantic Coast Championship

It was cold and the wind was howling, but for one night in Pennsylvania, Sparta High School’s marching band stood above the rest.

Competing in the Atlantic Coast Championship on Nov. 1 at West Shore Stadium in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, the Marching Spartans proved its worth to the thousands of other band members in attendance as well as the judges.

Tallying 95.1 percentage points, the Marching Spartans received awards for best music, best visuals, promotion from Class A to the more competitive Open Class, and to top it all off, the team brought home the 2014 Tournament of Bands Group 3A Atlantic Coast Championship.

The Marching Spartans won the 2014 New York Metro Group 3A Region Champion on Oct. 19 at West Essex High School in North Caldwell to secure its spot in the ACC tournament.

Four scholarships were awarded at the championship, one of which went to Sparta’s Jack Donahue. The team bus was escorted through Sparta by the Sparta Police Department after its three-hour trip back from Pennsylvania.