LC band 8th, Munster 10th in state band competition

Lake Central High School's band place eighth and Munster High School placed 10th in their respective divisions at the state finals Saturday in Indianapolis.

"The kids performed really, really well," said Bret Winternheimer, Munster's band director. "It was a foreign environment for them."

The bands competed at the 39th Annual Indiana State School Music Association Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium. It was the Munster band's first appearance at the competition in the school's history and the first for a Class B school in Lake County. 

The class in which the bands compete is determined by the size of the school.

Lake Central has been to state more than a dozen times. This year's appearance marked the band's sixth consecutive trip to the state finals.

All of the other bands competing against Munster, Winternheimer said, had been there three of the past four years.

"We knew going in we weren't necessarily the front-runners," Winternheimer said. "Now we'll have this experience to draw on in the future."