Two Lawrence residents know they’ll be pushed to the limit this summer.

As members of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, Keenan Cox and Chris Hansen will practice up to 14 hours a day.

Two Free state high school graduates will participate in the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps this summer. From left are Keenan Cox, trumpet, Kansas University sophomore and Free State High school graduate; Carol Lowman, tuba, KU junior, Topeka; Bryce Lowman, mellophone, Emporia State University senior, Topeka; and Chris Hansen, euphonium, Free State graduate and a sophomore at New York University. The group will rehearse and tour this summer with the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps from Dubuque, Iowa.

The Dubuque, Iowa-based corps teaches its 135 members – who are between ages 15 and 21 – a high level of professionalism and dedication, Cox and Hansen said.

The group is divided into brass, percussion and color guard. This is the fourth summer with the corps for Cox, who plays the trumpet, while Hansen, who plays the euphonium, soon will depart for his third summer. Both 19-year-olds graduated from Free State High School in 2006. Hansen attends New York University, and Cox is a Kansas University student.

Corps members try out in December and January, and, if accepted, practice one weekend a month in Dubuque. Then, on Memorial Day weekend, they depart for a summer that’s filled with practices that last 12 to 14 hours a day when they don’t have a show.

“It becomes a nice routine as we go along,” Hansen said. “By the time the shows come, people are excited and prepared.”

The group performs 25 to 30 shows each summer around the country. Traveling on three tour buses, they sleep in high school or college gymnasiums between practicing and performing.

“The whole reason is to become better people by working at something and performing at a high level,” Cox said. “It’s shown me that I don’t know what my physical and mental limits are.”

The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps will rehearse July 24-25 in Lawrence. The public is invited to watch them at Lawrence High School and at KU’s Memorial Stadium.

“Last year, we had a really good turnout,” Hansen said. “It would be great if we could see a bunch of people again this year.”