When Irene Wich joined the Rampart High School marching band in 2021, she felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

Schools in Colorado and across the U.S. were still adjusting to the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the band’s numbers reflected the lingering uncertainty. Rampart fielded 65 students that year.

But Wich was looking forward to the new school year, and the upcoming marching band season.

“I was very excited,” said Wich, the band’s head drum major. “I was definitely hoping to do well. But I never would have thought we’d go from where we were then, to where we are now.”

Since 2021, the Rampart marching band has nearly doubled in size, increasing to 124 students for the 2024 campaign. And they capped off the season in grand fashion in late October, winning the Class 4A finals of the Colorado Bandmasters Association State Championships. It is Rampart’s first state championship in 18 years.

“It felt like the culmination of a really good group of students that has been showing up all season long,” said band director Keith Acuncius.

Rampart was one of a handful of Colorado Springs bands that made a strong showing in the championships, which were held at the Air Force Academy.

Air Academy High School placed third in Class 4A, up three spots from 2023. Fountain-Fort Carson’s marching band, which garnered several awards at the Colorado State Fair parade in August, finished third in Class 5A for the second straight year.

On Tuesday, Rampart students, faculty and family members packed the school’s gymnasium to honor the band.

Band members entered the gym to raucous cheering and thunderous applause, a level of support the Rams’ band has enjoyed all season, Acuncius said.

“The amount of support we’ve received has been incredible,” he said before the band performed a final rendition of its championship-winning routine.

For Wich and her fellow seniors, the assembly was a coronation of sorts, a confirmation that four years of grueling practices — and three consecutive fifth-place finishes — were worth the payoff.

“I was definitely surprised at how much work was involved, at first,” she said. “But we have a saying: ‘It takes what it takes.’”

“For our seniors, this is the season they’ve been working toward for four years,” Acuncius said. “It’s nice to see that work pay off.”

Acuncius, in his 10th year at Rampart, reflected on the 2024 season and how it ended.

“There were so many moments throughout the season that I won’t forget,” he said. “So many moments that made me proud of who they are, and not just on the field.

“It’s in how they act in the hallways, the way they interact with kids from other bands. They’re really encouraging of each other. And at the end, we got to put the medals around their necks. To be able to do that, to congratulate them for their hard work is something that will stay with me for a long, long time.”

Wich, who also plays mellophone and French horn, agreed.

“(The championship) really shows how much growth we’ve had, especially this year,” she said. “The moment we learned that we won — that we went from fifth place three years in a row, to first place my senior year, was so cool. I will always remember it.”