The Marshall University band brings a sense of pride to the already exciting various sporting events and to the competitions they perform in, but for one family, the pride is two-fold.

Sisters Mary and Grace Bunten have spent the past few months marching and practicing for countless hours in order to be half-time show ready. Mary Bunten is a senior drum major and Grace Bunten is a freshman color guard member.

“It is so cool to be able to share this with my sister,” Mary Bunten said. “We have both worked so hard to get where we are, and now we get to do it together. Our parents are at every game, and Marshall has just become the center of who our family is.”

The sisters have both been performing since they were young, and this is the second time they have been able to perform in a band together, the last being in high school.

“It’s good to know someone has my back at all times,” Grace Bunten said. “She has been someone I can look up to through the years, and this year is no different. I have so much to learn from her this year before she graduates.”

The girls said their parents met at Marshall when they were both going to school, and now that they both attend Marshall, they feel like they are continuing on what has become a family tradition.

“Just knowing we have all gone here makes me have even more of a sense of the pride that Marshall already has,” Mary Bunten said. “I know our parents are proud to be sitting in the stands again.”

Auditions are held every year for potential new band members to show their talents. Grace Bunten said preparing for the audition was stressful, but having her experienced sister there to help her with what would look best was something she appreciated.

“I hate that this is her last year here, but I am glad that my freshman band season could be spent with my best friend,” Grace Bunten said.

The two sisters said this was the perfect way to start and end their college careers, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Brooke Griffin can be contacted at [email protected].