New Faces: The Rookies' Favorites!

With the new season of the Marching Virginians underway, everyone has been hard at work putting our upcoming show “Superhero” onto the field. For many members this is a bittersweet time as the start of their final year in the MVs, but this is also an exciting beginning for others: the rookies! Every year, the rookies must learn MV songs, marches, and traditions, and we wanted to find out what some rookies most enjoy about being in the Marching Virginians.

What’s your favorite part about being an MV?

Arnav Joshi, Civil Engineering, MV Tone. (photo credit to MV Online Content)

“The atmosphere is just really good, you make friends,” said Arnav Joshi, a rookie MV Tone. “You get to play good music, and you just get to have all around fun.”

“My high school band was a lot smaller, so I love the community,” said Claire Haagen, a MV Bone rookie. “Just having a really large band of a lot of people who genuinely love to be here and devote a lot of time to the MVs.”

Daniel Mwaura, Neuroscience, MV Trumpet. (photo credit to MV Online Content)

“My favorite part about being an MV is meeting a lot of cool people,” said Daniel Mwaura, a VTrumpet rookie. “Being able to meet every day, playing good music, and sounding good as a band is great.”

“I just love playing music and being around so many great musicians and putting on these shows and meeting so many people,” said James Martens, a VTrumpet rookie.

“It’s the sense of camaraderie”, said VTuba rookie Shaft. “It feels — especially [my] section, and the band as a whole — feels like a family, but it’s just a lot bigger.”

James Martens, undecided, VTrumpet. (photo credit to MV Online Content)

Going into our first game this Saturday, it seems that the rookies all have their own special slice of being an MV that they enjoy. Be it playing musical medleys, having a unique section bond or being surrounded by so many amazing people, being an MV is a truly special experience. We hope that the rookies of the 2023 season have a fantastic fall semester and love being in the MV family for years to come! After all, you’re not just an MV when at Virginia Tech; you’re MVs4lyfe!

Band Camp 50!

Welcome back, Marching Virginians and fans! We’ve missed seeing your smiling faces around the MVC these past few months. 

Band Camp flew by with field leadership, officers, rookies and returners working hard to get up to speed and get ready for our exciting 50th season ahead. Let’s hear what some of our MVs thought about the week!

Shawn “Ronald” Regalado, VTuba rookie. (photo credit to MV Online Content)

Was band camp what you expected?

“As someone who is coming from a small high school that had about forty-ish members, said VTubas rookie Shawn “Ronald” Regalado, “seeing the pace that we learn everything and the different cultures in each section and the sheer size of the band itself was a lot to take in. It really blew away my expectations going into band camp as a rookie.”

Carter Bohart, MVPix rank captain. (photo credit to MV Online Content)

How was your first week of leadership? 

“I enjoyed meeting all of the new band members and getting to work with them, [to] kind of hand down what I learned as an incoming member,” said new MVPix rank captain Carter Bohart. “[I enjoyed] giving them tips and tricks in the MV marching style and helping them become acclimated to the environment.”

What are you most looking forward to for the 50th season?

“I’m looking forward to bringing back some old shows that we used to march and just celebrating the accomplishments that this band has brought about in 50 years, being one of the youngest bands in the nation,” said Bohart.

Megan Mansfield, returning MV manager. (photo credit to Megan Mansfield)

What are you most looking forward to for the 50th season?

“The community,” said returning manager Megan Mansfield. “Now that I’ve met more people from last season and also [been] helping with uniforms, I know more people from almost every section. So now, the games, cookouts and going out with people, it’s going to be a lot more fun because it’s easier to make connections.”

All said, the MVs can’t wait for season 50 to really get started. Our first game is against ODU on September 2nd, and will be our annual MV for a Day event! This is a great opportunity for high schoolers to check out our program and see what collegiate marching is really like.

We’ll see you there!

Hokies Pep Band

When MV season comes to a close, many band members aren’t satisfied with performing awesome stand tunes and bringing energy to game day in just the fall. Lucky for them, there’s an amazing opportunity in store in the spring; the Hokies Pep Band!

A Synopsis of the Hokies Pep band

The Pep Band performing for March Madness (Source: HokieSports)

Under the direction of Marching Virginians assistant director Chad Reep, the Hokies Pep Band brings the excitement of an outdoor ensemble into Cassell Coliseum. The Pep Band, being roughly a third of the size of the Marching Virginians, includes all instruments of the outdoor ensemble and adds in guitars, basses, and a drum set. When the Pep Band gets to travel with out basketball teams, the band is even further reduced to about 30. As a vital part of the game day energy, the Pep Band coordinates with the Spirit Squad and the student section (formally referred to as the Cassell Guard) to make game day as exciting as possible!

ACC Tournament Run

The Pep Band had the opportunity to travel with the Hokies Men’s Basketball team to Greensboro, North Carolina to bring the hype to the ACC Tournament! The 11th seed Hokies played the 14th seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish in round one, and were able to secure a win with a final score of 67-64.

The Greensboro Coliseum Pep Band! (Source: Chad Reep)

In round two, the Hokies were faced with the 6th seed NC State Wolfpack and faced a tough loss with a final score of 77-97. Despite the disheartening performance, the Pep Band still got to spend some quality time together and had a great time!

Women’s NCAA Tournament Run

The Hokie Women’s Basketball team had a record breaking run in March Madness, reaching the first program Elite Eight and Final Four, and the Pep Band had the opportunity to travel with them along this historic journey!

Our March Madness Pep Band! (Source: Chad Reep)

Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight — Seattle, WAshington

The Pep Band crowds Chad’s room to ensure they sound the best they can! (Source: Chad Reed)

The Pep Band arrived in Seattle, Washington and had a couple of days to explore the city! Many groups visited some one Seattle’s famous sites: the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, and the aquarium, just to name a few! Of course, since our Pep Band members are still students, many found places to study across the city, especially at the Seattle Public Library. Leading up to the game, with no other place to rehearse within the hotel, the dedicated Pep Band swarmed to Chad’s room to read/sing through their music!

The Hokies move on! (Source: HokieSports)

On the team’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1999, the Hokies faced 4th seed Tennessee, who were predicted to be evenly matched. After a close game, the Hokies were able to pull away with a final score of 73-64, and moved on to the program’s first Elite Eight!

Forward #13 Taylor Soule, the Pep Band’s biggest fan! (Source: Tech Sideline)

Facing the Hokies in our historic Elite Eight appearance was 3rd seed Ohio State. Proving to be yet another stressful game, the Hokies were once again able to pull away from the Buckeye’s notorious full court press and put up a final score of 84-74. Hurriedly, the Hokies packed their bags and prepared for an early flight to Dallas, Texas for our first ever Final Four!

Final Four — Dallas, Texas

Upon landing, the team was greeted by a small photo op at the airport! Once in the city, the Pep Band once again had the opportunity to explore the city a bit, with many flocking to local TexMex and barbecue restaurants! A handful of Pep Band members even decided to buy cowboy hats to celebrate the occasion!

Now THAT’S a trombone section! (Source: HokieSports)

The Hokies were facing another 3rd seed, LSU, with odds favoring the Tigers. After putting up a fight and gaining a double digit lead, the Hokies couldn’t hold on to the championship appearance, and fell to the Tigers in a 72-79 loss. With much to be proud of, the Hokies flew back home to Blacksburg with their heads held high!

Old Friends, New Memories

For a lot of people, lifelong friendships are made in the Marching Virginians. Whether it’s section bonding time or just striking up a conversation at the MVC, countless relationships begin with marching band. For some other people, these relationships start even earlier than college. A lot of our wonderful MVs came from high school band together, spending eight years doing what they love with the same people. We wanted to highlight these special relationships and commemorate all the years we have spent together making music.

Millbrook High School

Xander Hromiak ‘20, Hayden Gormas ‘21

Xander and Hayden both come from our lovely horn section here in the MVs. They hail from Winchester, VA, both a part of the Millbrook High School Marching Band. Their favorite memory from high school band is “the anticipation of the triple double crunchwrap supreme”.

Hickory High School

Gracie Maslyn '21, Thomas Chase '21, Cole Sawyer '20

Next we travel to Virginia Beach, where we meet Gracie Maslyn, Cole Sawyer, and Thomas Chase, all former members of the Hickory High School Marching Band. This band had a lot of fun with each other, with their favorite memories being going to Band of America Regionals at Liberty University, playing awesome games at band camp, and all the fun memories traveling with each other.

King George High School

Jacob Banerjee ‘19, Jonathan Amorino ‘22

Jacob and Jonathan, both members of the trombone section, have been marching together since their days at King George High School, in King George, VA. While their most memorable moment is the loss of their Senior Night football game, they have had many moments of fun with each other, especially since joining the Marching Virginians.

Grafton High School

Julia Darden ‘21 Jackson Kirsch ‘21, Ax Phan ‘20, Trey Kalil ‘20, Carrie Frecker ‘19, Calvin Moore ‘19, Jackson Davies ‘19, Tim Asher ‘19, Meadow Dawes ‘22

Next up is a gigantic and memorable group of Marching Virginians from Grafton High School, in Yorktown, VA. 9 of our MVs have been marching together for years, but not always successfully. Their favorite memory from HS was when Trey Kalil fell down in the middle of a competition, but got right back up and began marching in step on beat. It was so memorable that the video of the recording has lived long after all of them graduated.

Clarke County High School

John Kizer ‘20, Claire Holmes ‘19, Olivia Holmes ‘21, Charles Casey ‘21, Nico Ottobre ‘22, Nate Blackwell ‘22

All of these MVs hail from Clarke County High School, in Berryville, VA. They were all in the band together in 2018, and that year had a vampire themed show. One of Nate’s favorite memories that year was getting to march at championships with his arm in a brace because he broke my arm at band camp! He says “It was really cool to march with all of my friends even when I had to march with a concert horn!”

Charlottesville High School

Tommy Fruscello ‘22, Talia Moore ‘22, Claire Wildermann ‘22

Coming from a small high school, these three MVs from Charlottesville High School were very close before coming to Virginia Tech. According to them, Charlottesville High School’s band had bonds that superseded the section divide. All sections shared a lot of memories playing with each other through their tenure in band.

Pulaski County High School

Alex Haynes '22, Charlie “Kachow” Buchinsky '19

Coming closer to home, Alex and Charlie marched together at Pulaski County High School in Dublin, VA. They were able to share so many fun memories together, most notably traveling to All District and All State band.

Dominion High School

Isabel Hasson '19, Gillian Murphy '19, Alex Rutkowski '22, Myles Phillips '18, Aaron George '19, Kristin Rice '20, Samantha Frietchen '19

Lastly, we have an unforgettable group of MVs from Northern VA. The seven of them hail from Dominion High School, in Sterling VA. A fond memory they have from high school was getting to participate in Parade of Champions in 2017, as well as getting first place at a competition in 2018!!

These are just some of the bonds that were able to be strengthened through spending time in the MVs. It is so special to be able to know someone for upwards of eight years! The MVs is truly a place for lifelong friendships.

ValianT

As the rest of marching band season rolls on, we wanted to take a moment to highlight another amazing organization that a lot of our members participate in: Valiant.

Valiant is the Winter Guard team here at Virginia Tech; it is a student-run organization that travels to compete against other Winter Guards during the winter and spring seasons. 

Valiant is run by a student director, picked by the members at the end of each season. This year, the group is run by returning director Catherine Miller, a senior in our own MV Color Guard. This will be her second year as director for Valiant. The director’s role, with the help of an assistant director, is to create the choreography for the show of the season. They decide the music, uniforms, and coordinate everything needed to be done for the organization to compete. Alongside the directors, Valiant also uses managers, who are volunteers to help on competition days with the behind the scenes work of the organization.

Competition Photo from 2021-2022 Season! Source: Bethany Hillmann

The spinners in the organization have many wonderful things to say about this organization. Returning member Bethany Hillmann spoke about her experience as a spinner in Valiant. When asked about her experience in Valiant, she said that it involves a lot of hard work and dedication, but is all worth it seeing the product at the end. One of her favorite memories from last season was getting ready with the team before all of their competitions.

Similar to the Marching Virginians, Valiant is an audition based ensemble. The audition involves an interview with the director, as well as spinning and choreography. The auditionees have to learn two routines in a short time span, performing them for not only the director, but judges who observe and make comments as well. Auditionees also have the option to audition on the rifle, which adds another layer to the process. After a long day of auditions, decisions are made, and the new team gets hard at work on creating a wonderful show for competitions.

This organization takes a lot of time and dedication, but the end product is a marvel to witness. We are so excited to see the show that the team will create for us this season!

Check back next week for our game day recap against Georgia Tech!

Bringing the Hype to Campus – Turner Pep Band

Picture this – it’s the Friday before game day, and campus is just too quiet. The clock strikes noon, and suddenly, live music can be heard from the northern side of campus. Students, faculty, and passerby can hear Tech Triumph, the Hokie Pokie, and other typical game day tunes. The source? It’s the Turner Pep Band!

Lavery Hall

With Turner Dining Hall being one of the few dining halls on the academic side of campus, it’s certainly a prime spot for our music to reach the largest number of Hokies.

Pep Band Pride

Although it’s only a small portion of our 330-member band, we still deliver the same energy and excitement as the entire Marching Virginians would. Each and every member of the Turner Pep Band can be seen jamming out in their best Hokie attire.

Pre-Game Day Traditions

Despite being the day before game day, we still consider Pep Band to be one our favorite Game Day Traditions. Turner Pep Band prepares us to be The Spirit of Tech in Lane Stadium!

…And Beyond

The MVs have had the privilege of performing at Coach Pry’s Arrival to Blacksburg, the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design Ceremony, the 2022 Alumni Picnic, and of course our annual pep band: Hokies for the Hungry, which will take place the morning of the Georgia Tech game for 2022. Help be a part of Virginia Tech’s Ut Prosim mission to provide aid for local Hokies.

Spirit Week with The Spirit of Tech!

This week is Homecoming at Virginia Tech, a time where we welcome our alumni home and celebrate all the amazing things about our University. With events all week, the competition for Homecoming court, and fun celebrations such as the Friday night parade all leading up to the big game on Saturday, there is so much spirit running rampant through the University. 

For Homecoming week, Tau Beta Sigma organizes a Spirit Week for the Marching Virginians, a competition between the sections to see who has the most spirit in the band. 

Spirit Week consists of themed dress-up days with sections gaining points for participation. In addition to dress up days, points are earned through donations. As an organization, we are committed to serving the community around us, so at the end of the week, all Spirit Week donations get pulled together and will be donated to Cancer Research Institute, a non-profit organization researching cancer based in New York City. At the end of the week, the winning section receives party hats and the ability to choose a stand tune of their choice at Saturday’s football game, Homecoming against Miami.

Section Traditions

During Spirit Week, our Drum Majors, Managers, and Twirlers team up! (Source: Gillian Murphy)

During Spirit Week, there are some fun section traditions that take place. One notable one is of a competition between the combined saxophone section and the tuba section, where they “anti-theme”, purposefully dressing up in the opposite of the assigned theme. According to Saxophone Section Leader Daniel Gaete, they do this to earn the most negative amount of points possible, wanting to show their MV Spirit in their own way. Additionally, for Spirit Week, the Managers combine sections with the Drum Majors and Twirlers, joining forces to win as many points for their team.

Mosaic Monday

Our Nets sporting orange! (Source: Aaron George)

Monday started us off with Mosaic Monday, where sections were assigned a color to wear to earn points for their team. Practice looked beautiful, with hundreds of our amazing members matching each other. The Trombones quickly took the lead, gaining almost 100 points on the first day. Sections went all out, with people dressing from head to toe in their color. After everyone saw how committed the other sections were, donations started rolling in, kickstarting the service initiative.

Tropical Tuesday

Our Tropical Tones! (Source: Andrew Stewart)

Tuesday gave us Tropical Tuesday, where the band dressed up for a warm, tropical vacation on a cold, October night. Sections appeared in leis, hats, and sunglasses. Almost every single section received 100% participation rates, maximizing the amount of points they could earn. The winners from Monday were announced at rehearsal, and sections following close behind began sending in donations to increase their point totals and attempt to dethrone the winning section. The Trombones maintained their lead, with the Trumpets within 15 points. The competition is close, with it still being anyone’s game.

Looking Forward to Game Day!

Our twinning Drum Majors! (Source: Calvin Moore)

As we finish the rest of the week, the anticipation as to who will be the 2022 Marching Virginians Spirit Week winner is high. The themes for the last two days are Wacky Wednesday and Twin Thursday, both themes with a lot of room for creativity. As of Thursday, the lead is still held by the Trombones, but everythign could get turned on it’s head from donations in these last few days! Through this week’s donations, the MVs are taking the time to embody ‘Ut Prosim”, the school’s motto: “That I May Serve.” We are truly an organization devoted to giving back to the wonderful community around us.

Check back next week for our homecoming game recap!

Meet the Blog Writing Team!

It’s been a long couple weeks of back-to-back home football games, so now that we have a small breather, we’re thrilled to introduce our Blog Writing Team for this season! Up until now, all posts were written and edited by our Marketing Communications Officers, Abbie Robertson and Andrew Stewart. Members of the Multimedia Team filled out applications and were selected by the Multimedia Officers based on their aptitudes for photography, graphic design, and for our Blog Writing Team, writing.

---

Marketing Communications Officers

Abbie Robertson

Abbie is a sophomore at Virginia Tech from Roanoke, VA, and is double majoring in Mathematics Education and Psychology. This is her second year marching in the tenor sax section in the MVs and is one of the Marketing Communications Officers. After her first year, she knew she needed to put more time into the organization and community that truly made Virginia Tech home. Every band she was in - the Marching Virginians, Campus and Symphony Band, Pep Band - secured her passion for this school, the music department, and the people involved in the bands. Some of her other passions are using her red hair as her only personality trait, making a fool of herself, and recently she’s picked up her old hobby of reading again. She is incredibly excited for what this year has to offer!

Andrew Stewart

Andrew Stewart is a junior from Hillsboro, VA majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and minoring in Human-Computer Interactions. He is in his third year with the Marching Virginians, is serving as a baritone rank captain for his second year, and is a Marketing Communications Officer this year! Apart from The Marching Virginians, Andrew is a proud member of the Hokies Volleyball and Basketball Pep Bands, and is a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi. Outside of the band, Andrew enjoys lifting weights, stargazing, Britney Spears, and telling people about his tattoo. Andrew hopes to apply to the ISE graduate school program to study cognitive engineering or biomechanics. Andrew is very excited to serve the band in every way he can!

---

Blog Writing Team

Julia Darden

Julia is a second year History major from Yorktown, Virginia. She focuses mainly on American and European History and wants to use her education to work in Museums. This is her second year in the Marching Virginians saxophone section and her second year on the multimedia team. Outside of MV’s she has participated in Campus Band and Symphony Band. Julia has played saxophone for nine years and she was Band President and Drum Major for the Grafton High School Marching band her junior and senior years of high school. Hobbies outside of band include reading an absurd amount of books, making bomb smoothies, and telling everyone around her that “they sang this on Glee”!

Emy Delaporte

Emy is a dual degree sophomore in technical writing and journalism with double minors in natural resources and conservation. This is her second season marching with and blogging for the Marching Virginians! She’s a proud member of the MVPix. Outside of the band, she’s an editor for the Silhouette magazine and blog and a staff writer for the Collegiate Times, as well as a member of the Bird Club, The Wildlife Society, the National Deer Association, and more. Emy likes to spend her free time birding, volunteering in CNRE’s Wildlife Habitat and Population Analysis lab, writing novels, camping, going on drives, and taking in the cold night air.

Sarah-Faith Mukuna

Sarah-Faith is a second year engineering major from Fairfax County, VA, with plans to declare Biological Systems Engineering on the Health Professions (specifically pre-med) track. She also minors in French. She is a proud member of Rank 69, the managers section! One of her biggest hobbies is writing, which is why she is so excited to serve the band on this team! Sarah-Faith also loves listening to music and playing her instruments; she just started playing the tenor sax! Outside of MVs, Sarah-Faith is the Treasurer of Tau Beta Sigma and a member of National Society of Black Engineers. In her free time, she loves reading books (90% chance it’s Percy Jackson), going to the gym, and cooking.

Emery Poulsen

Emery is a senior from Fairfax County, Virginia and is studying Environmental Data Science. This is her fourth and final year as a member of the Marching Virginians, where she serves the band as its Treasurer. She has loved her time in the baritone section, where she finds herself laughing constantly. Trying out for the MVs was the best decision Emery could have made coming into college, and she hopes to communicate that through her blog posts! She's excited to write for Marching with the Virginians for a fourth year. Outside of the Marching Virginians, Emery is involved in numerous other student organizations, including serving as the Treasurer for Kappa Kappa Psi, being a Programming Executive for the Big Event at Virginia Tech, practicing with the Virginia Tech Running Club, or playing in the Hokies Pep Band. In her occasional spare time, Emery loves running, hiking, and trying new foods.

Atlas Vernier

Atlas is a fifth-year student at Tech pursuing dual degrees in Industrial & Systems Engineering and French. This is their fifth year playing piccolo in the Marching Virginians, where they are the proud rank captain of Rank 7! They serve as a photographer and a writer for the MV Blog. Outside of marching band, Atlas is a researcher, focusing on immersive augmented/virtual reality experiences and autonomous collaborative robotics. They are also a translator and subtitler for multiple international broadcasts, as well as a post-production lead for a TV series set to be released in 2023. Atlas is so excited to be a part of the multimedia team, and they can't wait to share their experiences and stories!

Game-Day Traditions

Our first home game of the season is just around the corner, and we’re super excited to be back in Lane Stadium! Ahead of the game against Boston College, we’d like to take some time to talk about some of our game-day traditions. While each section of the band has their own specific traditions that they hold dear, we’ll be looking at some of the traditions practiced by the entire band!

Motorcycles

Once game day officially starts with the Spirit of Tech donning their uniforms, we warm up with a fun game of “motorcycles”. Motorcycles consists of Dr. Polly calling out a number 1 through 7, and the MVs squatting down to different depths and shouting, eventually getting to 7 and (typically) falling on the ground.

(Source: Nayha Pochiraju)

March to Victory

The trek to Lane Stadium, beginning at the Marching Virginians Center, entails cheering fans, hyping up tailgaters, and plenty of high-fives. Each section of the MVs has synchronized dances, jigs, and cheers to hype everyone up!

(Source: Beau Wong)

Stack

Stack is the Marching Virginians Center’s very own Hokie Bird. Named in honor of Ryan “Stack” Clark, a baritone player who lost his life in the April 16th tragedy, Stack has become an important part of MV tradition. During our March to Victory, every MV gives Stack a pat on the back for good luck and to honor his memory.

(Source: Abbie Robertson)

The Hokie Pokie and Tech Triumph

During the game, the tubas take to the field to perform the Hokie Pokie, a staple of Hokie football tradition! After a hard fought game, the football team meets the Marching Virginians at the north end-zone to hear the band sing and perform Tech Triumph!

(Source: Nayha Pochiraju)

Superman

Ever since it was first performed during our pregame performance in 1982, the MVs have played the “Superman” theme at the end of a VT football game. This song connects the MVs to past, present, and future Marching Virginians. Some of our sections help people to “fly” like Superman by hoisting them up at the swell of the tune.

(Source: Andrew Single)

See you next week for our first game-day recap of the 2022 season!

Hokie Football is Back!

September has come, and every Hokie knows what that means — college football is back! The Marching Virginians are no exception to the excitement of our 2022 season, with our very first game being tonight at Old Dominion University with kickoff at 7:00 pm EST. This upcoming season is sure to be one to remember, as we introduce our new head coach, Brent Pry.

From Altoona, Pennsylvania, Pry spent time at Virginia Tech from 1995-97 as a graduate assistant to Hokie football legends Frank Beamer and Bud Foster and helped lead the Hokies to two consecutive New Years’ Day bowl games. Since 2016, Pry served as the defensive coordinator for Penn State, but was thrilled to return to Virginia Tech as our new head coach. Pry, upon returning to Virginia Tech, has fostered a “Ground Up” approach of building the team up to their full potential. The “Ground Up” initiative has also brought back a beloved piece of Hokie football tradition — the Lunch Pail.

Brent Pry speaking to The Marching Virginians (Source: Dave Knachel)

Coach Pry visited The Marching Virginians at one of our rehearsals and took the opportunity to speak with the band as a whole about his vision for the Spirit of Tech’s important role in game-day tradition. Pry voiced his appreciation of the band and the relationship that the band and football team have formed over the years. To reciprocate our appreciation, a small band visited the football team and surprised them by performing game day favorites! We also taught the football team the lyrics to Tech Triumph!

The Marching Virginians surprising the football team (source: Emily Saintsing)

Ahead of our opening game of the season, Pry will be facing off against a former colleague from Penn State, Old Dominion’s head coach Ricky Rahne. With many fresh faces on both the coaching staff and the team, the coaching staff was excited to announce our new starting quarterback, Grant Wells. The 6’2” junior transferred from Marshall and will be wearing #6. The Hokie’s record against ODU currently stands at 2-1, with ESPN giving the Hokies a 66.3% chance of victory over ODU.

The full band with Coach Brent Pry (source: Dave Knachel)

As we taught the football team during our surprise visit, “Win or lose, we'll greet you with a glad returning. You're the pride of V. P. I.”!

All information found in this post is from hokiesports.com and ESPN.

New Beginnings - Rookie Perspective

Our first week of classes comes to an end, we wanted to take time to reminisce on OUR favorite week of the year - band camp. Seven full days of marching, making music, and seeing our closest friends, as well as making new ones with rookies. We took the time to ask our rookies some questions about their journey of becoming part of the 2022 edition of the Marching Virginians!

We have 105 new marchers in the 2022 edition of the Marching Virginians!

Pictured: Our (bari)tone and (trom)bone sections source: Abbie Robertson

Question 1: How did you hear about the MVs?

Pictured: Our trumpet section and drum major Thomas Chase source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague (3rd-year rookie, Trumpet)

• “My brother was one. He graduated last winter, so I went to the games recently. I’ve always loved marching band.”

Alex Shupp (1st-year rookie, Alto sax)

• “I always knew of college marching band, but I heard about MVs through my brother.”

Lauren Watt (1st-year rookie, Trumpet)

• “When I started looking at schools I knew I was going to be checking out the marching band programs because it’s something I was passionate about in high school and wanted to continue in college so when I looked into Virginia Tech I got to see how important the MV’s are to the community and just generally how awesome and dedicated the band is!”

Question 2: What was your audition process like?

Pictured: Our goofy sax section source: Andrew Stewart

Jeremy Teague

• “It wasn’t too difficult, but it was very mental. Try to keep my focus and not get stressed about getting in. They told us to have fun and I made friends early.”

Alex Shupp

• “I thought it was going to be a lot more stressful, but all the upperclassmen made me feel welcome as soon as I got there.”

Lauren Watt

• “My audition experience was interesting! Over the summer I got to practice a little bit of music and marching as the first part of the audition and when I started band camp everyone was very nice and encouraging while I tried out in person. Overall it was very fun and I really liked the process!”

Question 3: What are you most excited for as a rookie?

Pictured: Our 37-person net section source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague

• “The football games. It’s so fun watching it, but it’ll be even better being a part of it. The environment in the stadium is awesome.”

Alex Shupp

• “Football games. I’ve watched the marching band from afar, but now that I know the dances, it’ll be so fun.”

Lauren Watt

• “It’s a little nerve-wracking as well but as a rookie I’m most excited for my first time playing in Lane Stadium as an official MV, getting to experience what it’s like in the stands, hearing enter sandman, and marching the show!”

Question 4: What has been your favorite part of MVs so far?

Pictured: Our lovely piccolo section source: Abbie Robertson

Jeremy Teague

• “So far, honestly, the breaks we get to play with our sections. The fun we get to have with our sections outside of marching.”

Alex Shupp

• “All of the saxophone traditions. Especially rank traditions #bank rank is the best rank”

Lauren Watt

• “My favorite part of being an MV is definitely the connection I feel to my section. Everyone is so kind to each other and upbeat and I really like getting to hang out together in and out of practice! I’m very grateful for the positivity and acceptance that I feel each time I interact with anyone in the band and it makes me so proud to call myself a Marching Virginian.”

We are so excited for what this year has to offer!

Pictured: The horns and their corn source: Abbie Robertson