Pride of McNeese Band Members Selected for Elite Drum Corps International

Eight members of the McNeese State University Pride of McNeese Marching Band are participating this summer in the elite Drum Corps International (DCI), which consists of 47 corps from the United States, Canada and Europe.

The students will perform and compete head-to-head with other U.S. corps groups during a national tour that ends with the DCI World Championships Aug. 10 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Additionally, Dr. Lonny Benoit, head of the W.A. and Dorothy Hanna Department of Performing Arts is on the instructional staffs of The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps; and Dr. Jay Sconyers, director of bands, is on the instructional staffs of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps.

Those selected for the DCI tour are: with the Blue Stars in La Crosse, Wisconsin: David Billodeau, Sulphur, drum major; Alejandro Chapa; Houston, Texas, mellophone/horn; Alex Ellender, Lake Charles, trumpet; Tommy Holland, Orange, Texas, trumpet; Blake Kinder, Monroe, baritone; Jonathan Leveque, Lake Charles, trumpet; with the Seattle Cascades in Seattle, Washington: Cody Keller, Iowa, baritone; and with the Madison Scouts in Madison, Wisconsin: Cole LaBruyere, Moss Bluff, trumpet.