Mayville, ND - Last Friday night the men's and women's basketball teams hosted their long time rival Valley City State. The stands were packed but there was a new presence in the gym that brought the familiar sound of "Hail to our Comets" back to the Lewy Lee.

The Comet Crew Pep Band, under the direction of Dr. Byron Ward, performed prior to the women's game all the way to the end of the men's game.

The group consisted of Mayville State students and 20 high school students from various high schools in the area. Those areas included May-Port-CG, Northwood, Central Valley, Hillsboro, Fertile-Beltrami, Thompson, West Fargo and Davies. 



"A few recent Mayville State alumni were also invited to join the pep band for the game. We had one alumna in attendance. With a band of 30+ we had a nice full sound and a balanced instrumentation. As a note of comparison, currently the NCAA basketball tournament for March Madness limits the size of a pep band to 29 members. Our pep band on Friday had more members!" said Dr. Ward.



Additionally, many Mayville students in the pep band also perform with the choir, which they got to sing the National Anthem prior to the game Friday night.





Dr. Byron Ward was hired as the instructor of Music and the Director of Music ensembles at Mayville State Fall of 2022. His first year the band was very small so they were limited in the type of music they could play.

"We have since grown and hope to continue to keep growing to be a part of more events like this," said Dr. Ward.