Crossroads: Marching Kings reflect on past, future on way to state finals

Oct. 27—The tears streaming down Lyndsey Norwood's face were obvious despite the cold November drizzle. Her silence echoed amongst the clatter of parents loading the Lewis Cass band equipment back into trailers for a return trip to Walton from Indianapolis.

The Lewis Cass Marching Kings had just lost the 2022 Indiana state championship. At that time, state runner-up wasn't enough.

A year later, Norwood, now a senior synth player heading into her final state championship competition, is content.

"I was not in a great state," Norwood recalled Wednesday evening as the Marching Kings prepared for their final practice before Saturday's competition. "I'm more content than I was last year, which is maybe surprising because I am a senior and a lot more rides on it."

Raelynn Miles, now a junior who plays the xylophone, spoke for the band following last November's state finals. She felt the band had been depending on the Lewis Cass name to win them a championship.

"I'm pretty hopeful," she said. "We've been scoring a lot better than we were last year."

Norwood said 2022's state finals experience helped them grow as leaders. And also taught her she needs a moment when she is upset, she said.

"It helped me push a little bit," she said. "I realized that first isn't always going to be the result. But I think that made me more mentally strong."

Miles recalled it was the first time as a band member that she didn't hear Lewis Cass announced as first.

"I had never really experienced a loss," she said. "I didn't really know what it was like to stand there and not hear that you are first. It was definitely a hard moment but it helped me want to work harder."

Hard work has always been a trait for the Marching Kings, but band director Alan Hinshaw has seen the band step up in 2023. He pointed to the many band members working before practice officially began as evidence.

"This group is one of the most hardworking groups I think I have had," said Hinshaw. "Even tonight, right now they are doing parts of the show before we even start practice. They are stretching and warming up. They just wanted to get out here early and start working."

"Even before practice we have groups of people practicing together, figuring out music, taking music home," said senior Nora Craw, a band captain who plays the mellophone. "I'm very hopeful."

Hinshaw said his goal as Lewis Cass band director was to help his students have the ability to perform the best show they are capable of at the end of the year.

"Our goal is to always put them in the conversation to be the best," he said. "We want the judges to go 'that is a great band.'"

The Marching Kings 2023 show is symbolic of where the band stands. They call the performance "Crossroads" and it's inspired by the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken."

"We're going through a story of questions and 'which way should I go in life' when you get to a crossroads in life and 'who do I have to depend on to help me get through those struggles,'" Hinshaw said. "I think it's a really important thing for young kids to realize in school nowadays that they do have people around them that love them and accept them and want them to do their best."

"Our show is about making sure you choose the right path and I feel like it's very fitting to me because I'm like 'did I do it right? Did I choose the right path?' I hope this tells me the right answer," Craw said.

Craw and her fellow band captain, senior Abbey Hileman, a marimba player, followed their sisters into the Marching Kings. Family legacies are common in the Marching Kings.

So is being a state finalist, Hinshaw said. This is the 41st trip to the state finals for Lewis Cass.

But Hinshaw said they had put in the work to get there, too.

"Seeing these kids keep accomplishing their goals is amazing," said percussion director Hope Turcheck. "To keep building that school legacy and their name legacy is absolutely amazing. To see how much hard work and dedication they put into this—they could be at home playing video games but they are out here at all times working their behinds off and trying to achieve the same goal."

Turcheck said she felt the students' determination defined the band.

"They hear all the time that they are (a small school)," she said. "When they went to Macy's (Thanksgiving Parade) the first year I (was at Lewis Cass) there was like 150 kids. That's obviously not the size we have now. They hear a lot that they are so small and the kids proved it doesn't matter what size they are. They are determined to still accomplish greatness."

Miles credited the senior class for pushing the group to attain that greatness.

"I'm a little scared honestly for when they leave," she said. "Some of our seniors this year are the best members we have had in a while so it definitely worries me for when they leave. How is the band going to take it? Am I going to be able to push them as hard next year since I will be one of the seniors?"

Norwood said she had seen a lot of her younger bandmates step up and try to be leaders.

"For that reason I feel excited for what is to come," she said. "I feel confident about Saturday."

"This is my favorite group of kids ever," said Hileman. "They are so nice and they work really hard."

"I would say this group is definitely a younger group and it's growing," added Craw. "I feel this year is a good sign of how the future is going to be for us. And I'm very proud. I feel like I raised all my babies."

Lewis Cass is scheduled to perform at 6:25 p.m. Saturday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Open Class D competition kicks off at 4:40 p.m. and the winners are set to be announced at approximately 7:10 p.m.

Tickets for the state finals are $25 for adults and $20 for students and can be purchased on Ticketmaster or at the Lucas Oil Stadium box office.