After months of practicing, five band members ended their quest for All-State status with a trip to San Antonio to play in the culminating performance.

“The band students have done really well in their individual competitions,” director Kerry Taylor said. “This is the highest number of students of any high school in Region 18. The achievements are the result of countless hours of hard work.”

In the beginning, 122 Westlake band students signed up for Region auditions, and 60 of them had quite successful auditions, qualifying them to participate in the All Region Band performance on Jan 15-16. Twenty-eight players got even further, advancing to Area tryouts. This was eventually narrowed down to five of Westlake’s students who made it all the way to State.

The All-State Band Westlake students include senior Alexa Witowski on bassoon, sophomore David Wright on trumpet, senior John Turman on horn, junior Mark Stone on trombone, and junior Roger Stevens on euphonium. They participated in this group on Feb 10-13 in San Antonio.

“My expectations for myself are constantly rising,” John said, “but I feel like I’ve fully accomplished my goals in high school.”