GUYTON — Eleven South Effingham band members concluded their high school careers with a collegiate crescendo Thursday.
Ten musicians and a flag line member inked national letters of intent during a signing ceremony in their school's media center.
"We're super proud of them," South Effingham band director Sean McBride said. "They're joining another 20-plus former South Effingham band members who are playing at the collegiate level. We will have, potentially, close to 35 to 38 former Mustang band members performing at the college level next year.
"We're really, really excited about it."
McBride said South Effingham typically has nine to 15 musicians earn scholarships annually. They land them through auditions.
Clarinetist Emily Elmore pulled off a South Effingham first, becoming the initial Mustang to land a scholarship from the University Tennessee.
"We've had them as far out as the University of Southern California and we are super proud of that," McBride said.
Daniel Flood (tuba), Parker Davis (trombone), Kyle Hendrix (bass drum) and Kevin Tinder (snare drum) opted to stay closer to home at Georgia Southern.
Kiya Adkins (alto saxophone) and Shae Gillespie (flag line) chose the state's flagship school, the University of Georgia. Jacob Shikany (tuba) also decided to remain in the state by attending Kennesaw State.
Other in-state signees include Andrew Jeffers (Georgia Tech, euphonium), Bohong Cheng (Georgia Tech, trombone) and Madyson Seeley (West Georgia, mellophone).
College-bound Mustang musicians Cade Tuttle (Belmont), Elizabeth Parris (Reinhardt), Victoria Tseng (Georgia Tech) and Maia Nelson (Georgia Southern-Armstrong) weren't on hand for the ceremony.