Camden Marching Lions named Grand Champion in recent competition

As anyone who has been to a Camden football game this season can tell you from the spectacular halftime show—this Camden Marching Band is something special! In a recent competition, they were even named as Grand Champion of their division.

The Camden Central High School Marching Lions, under the direction of Band Director River Stoltz, continue to make waves this marching season with their show “Imaginarium.” In his second year as the director, Stoltz has led the band to incredible heights, and the group of young people plan to finish the marching season strong after a very impressive season thus far.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, the Marching Lions participated in the Gibson County Marching Invitational, where they had an outstanding performance. Competing against 23 bands, the Camden Marching Lions scored well in several categories:

• 1st Place for the Overall Band

• 1st Place for Drum Major

• 1st Place in Percussion

• 3rd Place in Color Guard

Their performance allowed them to advance to the finals competition, where they ranked ninth overall. Now being competitive with bands much larger in size is another indicator of the progress shown over the last two years.

Last week, on Saturday, Oct. 26, the Camden Marching Lions took to the field at the Pulaski Classic at Giles County High School. Their hard work paid off once again, earning them several prestigious awards:

• 1st Place in their Class

• 3rd Overall out of 17 bands

• Best in Class for Color Guard

• Best in Class for the Band

The biggest accolade of the night was that the Marching Lions were named the Small Division Overall Grand Champion of the competition. Stoltz expressed his excitement, stating, “The Camden Marching Lions are absolutely on fire this year! I can’t wait for them to perform next weekend at the state contest! Thank you to all parents and family who help make this possible for our kids.”

Looking ahead, the Marching Lions will finish their season at the Tennessee Division 2 Championship, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2, in Smyrna. Good luck to all of the band members as they strive to bring home more hardware to display at CHS!