With the new school year just around the corner, the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band is kicking off its season this week with band practice.

The sounds of The Pride of West Virginia are filling the Coliseum parking lot with its director for the past few years now a permanent presence.

Jay Drury , who has been a visiting professor at the College of Creative Arts and interim director of the marching band for the past three years, was recently named director after a national search. Drury, who hails from New Cumberland, will direct the largest marching band in the Universitys history, with more than 390 members.

Were excited for another great season and looking forward to performing for the many Mountaineer fans over the state and region,Drury said.

The Pridehas a reputation for a tradition of excellencea reputation solidified in 1997 when it was awarded the Sudler Trophy , considered the Heisman Trophy for college marching bands.

The units competitive nature forced it to institute a wait list this year for the more than 400 people who auditioned. The three sections with the most competition were the drum line, color guard and twirlers.

While the drum line and color guard generally accept about 30 members, only a maximum of four twirlers are selected each year. The feature twirlers for 2008 will be veterans Donovan Sarr of Mount Gilead, Ohio, and Nicole Clatterbuck of Westminster, Md., with the new addition of Kirsten Brown from North Canton, Ohio.

Helping Drury lead the band are the section and rank leaders. Drury said these students have proven themselves to be trustworthy.

The band staff is not very big, so they get a chance to do a lot of teaching,Drury said.The section leaders are in charge of how the band sounds, and the rank leaders are in charge of how the band looks.

This year, the marching band will keep its traditional pregame show but will be introducing new music throughout the season. The halftime show will incorporate an Olympic theme in honor of the Summer Olympics, and a large American flag will be spread across the field to highlight patriotism.

Other genres of musicsuch as pop, rocknroll and Latinwill also be part of the bands playlist.

My main goal is to keep our outstanding pregame show with the history and tradition, but I also want to continue to take the band to new levels and always work hard,Drury said.

In addition to football games, the marching band will perform several home shows and participate in band spectaculars in Morgantown and Fairmont.

Whatever our endeavors, we always want to re-earn the title �€~The Pride of West Virginia,Drury said.We always feel that the band belongs not only to the University but also to the state.