INDIANAPOLIS -- Saturday marked the end of a challenge senior Nate Goodwin took on three years ago.

Goodwin, now a senior drum major in Goshen High School's marching band, was a freshman when he first joined the marching band in 2006. The band had moved up to Class A in band competition a few years prior and had never since qualified for the state finals. Barely large enough to be in Class A, they were up against some of the biggest bands in the state.

They haven't grown much in size since then, but they have grown in accomplishment and confidence. Now, those big bands don't look so scary.

"Bring them on," Goodwin said as he waited for awards after Goshen's first Class A appearance in the Indiana State School Music Association state marching band finals. "It's not about the size. It's about the quality of the band, and it's all good competition."

Goshen placed ninth in Class A competition. Northridge High School and Concord High School -- both Class B bands -- placed eighth and fifth, respectively. Fairfield Jr./Sr. High School placed seventh in Class C competition.

Saturday's ISSMA state marching band finals at Lucas Oil Stadium capped a months-long season. Practice began with band camps for long hours in hot weather in the summer, and the bands have been traveling to compete nearly every weekend on top of performing at home football games.

The state's 40 top bands gathered for the finals, 10 in each class. The four classes are determined by school size. One hundred seventy-four bands competed in district competition. From there, it was narrowed down to regionals, and then semistate last weekend.

The event will be televised from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 26 on WNIT.

GOSHEN

Any place in Class A state finals would have made sophomore color guard member Paige Pobocik happy, she said. To her, the make-or-break moment was last weekend as she waited to hear whether the band had qualified for state. Saturday, she just wanted to give a performance of their show "Constellations" that she could be happy about.

"I felt really good about it," Pobocik said. "I walked off the field, and I had tears in my eyes and a big smile, because I knew that I did my personal best, and that's really all that matters."

It was Goshen's first performance in Lucas Oil Stadium -- the stadium was built since Goshen's last state qualification -- and Pobocik said performing in the stadium was exhilarating.

The band left Goshen at 8 a.m. Saturday, said director Tom Cox, and expected to return at about 3:30 this morning. Despite the long day ahead of them, Cox said the students had been excited all day.

A Class A state qualification came just in time for Goodwin and Goshen's other seniors. Goodwin said he was grateful for this.

"I know that there are a lot of seniors out there before me that didn't get this opportunity, and I'm doing this for them as well as for me," Goodwin said. "It's a really good feeling, and I'll have it in my memory forever."

CONCORD

Concord director Gay Burton said Saturday's performance was the climax of all the work the band has put in all year on its show "Paris Sketches."

"What you hope for all season is that they work hard and try to maximize their potential, and they did that from day one," Burton said.

Concord has competed in the state competition 25 of the last 26 years, and Burton has said since the beginning of the year that she is not concerned with scores and places. She said she is satisfied when the band performs at the highest ability possible.

Band members were shouting and jumping up and down in celebration after they stepped off the field and into the concourse of Lucas Oil. Awards hadn't been announced yet, but like Burton said, a quality performance was something for them to celebrate.

"A lot of times I feel like I haven't done really well," said Payton Swam, a sophomore marimba player in Concord's Marching Minutemen. "This time I feel like I performed really well, and I just could stay focused."

Concord's fifth-place finish bested its seventh-place finish last year.

NORTHRIDGE

Northridge assistant director Bryce Cone said this year's band performed at a higher level than any other time in school history.

Saturday's performance of Northridge's show, "Candimonium," was just another chance to improve on that.

"I'm kind of sad to see this be the last show, because they've just gotten better and better each week," Cone said.

After their performance, freshman flutist Anna Pladson and sophomore bass drummer Alanna Wise said it was hard to believe the long season had ended.

"It's like, once you're done with this, 'Candimonium' is gone," Pladson said, drinking her victory milk. The American Dairy Association was a corporate sponsor, so performing band members were greeted with the free beverage once they exited their performances.

Pladson said before the awards that Northridge hoped to end up in the top five, or at least the top six -- seventh is the highest state finish Northridge has had, she said.

The band finished two places shy of that goal, but still improved on its 10th-place finish from last year. Members said regardless of place, they were proud to have qualified for state this year.

Not even 10 minutes after their performance, sophomore baritone player Cody Wilson was thinking about next year.

"It was good," he said about the performance he'd just finished, "but there's always room for improvement."

FAIRFIELD

Saturday's performance of the show "I Am" was Fairfield's best performance of the season, said junior drum major Dawn Riggen.

Director Mel Carpenter said no matter how they placed, he was happy his kids got the chance to play the show one more time and improve on it.

"We really were fortunate to have an extra week to practice, and I don't think they were done with it," Carpenter said.

Carpenter said he and the students have loved the show since the beginning of the season, and never grew tired of it. He said that his students have an impressive amount of energy.

Fairfield's band had about 25 parent volunteers working on the field level to move equipment. There were even more parents in the stands cheering them on, Carpenter said.

The band stayed at, coincidentally, the Fairfield Inn on Friday, using last-minute donations from the community that had come in after Carpenter announced that he didn't know where to put up his students for the night after they qualified for the state finals.

Riggen said before awards were announced the band didn't have a specific place they hoped to earn.

"(We're) just happy to have the best run we've had, because that's exactly what we were hoping for," Riggen said.

The band placed seventh in its first competition in Class C.