Our 2025-2026 marching band seniors were honored on Friday, October 31st, along with the cheer and football seniors, for their outstanding performance this season. With the recent return of the Cougar Marching Band to competitions and halftime shows, some of these seniors have been with the program since before Guzman took over, while others joined just this year.
Jaelyn Linden plays the vibraphone in their halftime show and excels with the cymbals in the stands, as
well as in the percussion section of the concert band. Jaelyn has been in the concert band for 2 years, but this was her first and last year in marching band. She expressed that the marching band has taught her new skills, such as time management. Based on her experience, Jaelyn looks forward to learning new instruments and exploring greater opportunities.
The marching band has taught Jaelyn how to manage her time between work and fun. Jaelyn reflects on her time in the marching band by remembering the bus rides with her closest friends and watching the other bands perform. She loves marching band and will remember it through her friends she’s leaving behind. Jaelyn left some advice for future marchers: “Do not give up! If it’s hard, don’t automatically think you should quit on it. Keep going.”
Next up, our one and only color guard senior, Savanna Horning. Savanna is a rookie color guard member, though she was in percussion in the marching band the year prior. This year marks Savanna’s 7th year in concert band, toying around with every percussion instrument. One thing she can credit color guard for is helping her stay in tempo through learning dance while counting and listening to the music. Even though she has been in concert band a lot longer, Savanna has gotten a lot of help through listening to the rhythm of music. Savanna also plays club soccer, is in NHS, Humanity United, and is on Sahuaro’s Soccer team.
Savanna looks back on Hall March and our Homecoming assembly as her fondest memory, but really reflects on any time spent with her fellow guard members that made it all worth it. To leave off her season, Savanna says, “Enjoy it while you can, time really flies when you’re doing something you love.”
Andrew Kruszewski, a synth player during halftime and trumpet player in the stands, has been in the concert band for 4 years and the marching band for 3. Andrew has had a struggle of balancing work,
school, marching band, and sports all at once, but ultimately, it just made him a harder worker.
Andrew’s favorite memory doesn’t exactly span from the band room specifically, but from getting a McDonald’s employee in trouble for making free cones as tall as possible, while with some of his band friends on lunch break during a day camp. He has reflected on his time with the band these past 4 years and concluded that he will miss the people he hung out with every day during band. To leave off, Andrew said, “Put in the work, the effort pays off.”
Hailey Shryock, drum major and flute player, has been in the concert band all 4 years and in the
marching band for 3. One of the things she’s learned that has helped her become a better musician is her ability to understand rhythms and dynamics better through the memorization of music. She’s also faced numerous struggles throughout the season, like waking up early for practice and time management.
She is also in advanced theatre, the band club, NHS, and Humanity United, but outside of school, Hailey is a magician’s assistant, a competitive dancer, and a third-degree black belt. One of her favorite memories is watching bigger bands and letting herself imagine being there one day. Hailey will miss the comfort of the group the most. “We’re all very close and it’ll be sad to leave behind.” A piece of advice she left for future students was that you should always put everything into every performance, and “Don’t let marching band completely engulf your life.”
Keagan Franklin has been in marching band for 4 years, which has helped his development of rhythm and dynamics, and has helped “… make me less evil of a person.” Though Keagan often misses out on some holidays due to band conflicts, he wouldn’t change that for the world. Though he will miss being crazy with his friends on bus rides and at football games, Keagan has spent his time with the band well. His best advice is to get good sleep during the season.
And with that, Sahuaro Marching Band says goodbye to the 2026 seniors and wishes them well in their lives as they walk off the field.
