Members of the Jamestown High School band and color guard performed Saturday at Strider Field en route to a first-place finish at JHS’s 44th annual Fall Festival. P-J photo by Christopehr Blakeslee

Jamestown High School’s marching band etched out a “W” in the win collum at its 44-year old annual competition Saturday.

Various marching bands from around New York and Pennsylvania descended upon Strider Field as part of Jamestown High School’s 44th annual Fall Festival. The Fall Festival of Bands is a premier fundraising event for the high school’s marching band and showcases some of the best bands around the region in competition for the coveted number one spot.

Moreover, the various bands are scored using several criteria, such as music selections, field props, artistry, choreography, performance and story crafting.

Listed are the contestant’s placements at this year’s competition.

LARGE SCHOOL

¯ Jamestown — 72.950

¯ West Seneca — 72.350

¯ Corning — 72.250

¯ Orchard Park — 71.700

SMALL SCHOOL 1

¯ Northwestern — 68.200

¯ Iroquois — 63.600

SMALL SCHOOL 2

¯ Falconer-Frewsburg — 63.050

Additionally, two other schools performed exhibitory performances to round out the competition’s musical variety.

The Jamestown High School marching band received a thunderous welcome from the home crowd.

“It was a tough competition, and the kids performed extremely well tonight, they’ve worked hard and deserve this,” said Meghan Murray, director of bands for JHS.

Also, on hand was last year’s drum major who added her own praise.

“Sometimes it’s really hard on the field to convey a story the band is trying to tell,” said Juliana Yanik, a former drum major for JHS. “They didn’t have this problem at all; it was clear the story they were telling, I’m so proud of them.”