LAKEVILLE— Bearing the August sun dressed head-to-toe in wool attire proved worth it to members of the Old Colony Highlanders Bagpipe band, who took third place in the North American Pipe Band Championships the weekend of Aug. 3-4. 

The pipe band, which practices in Lakeville and draws musicians from all over Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, took home the bronze out of 14 bagpipe bands in its category at the Championships held in Maxille, Ontario. 

The North American Pipe Band Championships were held as part of the Glengarry Highland Games, one of the largest celebrations of Scottish Highland traditions in the world, according to the organization. 

The band was just two points away from snagging second place, said Pipe Major Diane Wood-Bielski. Still, she couldn’t have been happier with the result. 

“ I think this is a good result, so I’m happy about it, as are the members of the band,” Wood-Bielski said.  

Final scores in the competition are averaged based on a band’s performance in three areas: piping, drumming and ensemble, according to Wood-Bielski. 

In the drumming category, the band came in second place, she said. 

Taking into account the group’s performance across all categories, Old Colony Highlanders took home third place overall. 

Wood-Bielski said competitive success comes down to a sense of hyper-focus and trust in repetition. “I’m just tuned into everything we’ve done a thousand times in rehearsal.”