Leaderboard

We are leaving Wednesday morning. It’s always great to talk with the other Houston-area teams, color guard instructors, and enthusiasts on our same flight and at the airports. Lots of comraderie and wonderful conversation. That’s just a warm-up though to the enthusiastic response all the guards receive coming up the tunnel after their performance runs. The WGI World Championships is a such an awesome event! Let’s go get ‘em Team Texas! Best wishes to ALL!

Seven Lakes HS presents “Prophecy of Peace”

FLOMO, Vista Ridge, and Hebron may have a thing or two to say about that...

Cy ranch show got revealed a while ago and all I can say that my friends from there told me was it’s centered around a heist 👀

I am overjoyed to see the results of these Texas scholastic guards at Dayton! You know, guard in Texas hasn't always been a big thing. There was a time in the now distant past when Marie Czapinski gave clinics at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention to advocate for color guard, because the state was all about drill teams back then. Fast-forward decades later, and Texas is well-represented at Dayton in A and Open finals; nabs a silver medal in A; earns gold with a record score in Open; and achieves their first World class gold medal by a three-and-a-half point margin, the 2nd biggest ever in the Scholastic World class. (The biggest gap was James Logan 2001.) There's talk of adding a guard judge at UIL State for some of the bigger classes. Looking at these Dayton results, I think there are quite a few bands that would appreciate the efforts of their guards being rewarded at State! 👍

ohhhh wow!!! i wasn't convinced woodlands was gonna hit a 98 w/ that run!!! considering i went into the contest thinking 96-something, then kinda grew into thinking, wellll maybe 97 something, the 98 is surprising and awesome!!! three judges thought they set a new standard in their overall scores. 1 equipment judge w/ a 100-98 for 99 overall, and then two effect judges w/ 100s across the board, even in performance despite those two really exposed drops in the same line. those guys must have just thought it was so hard that it was negligible. well, that and maybe bc Avon had a couple drops last yr and still got 100s in performance. anywho, SOOOO happy for them, esp to watch that big group of girls who have been on the team since they were freshmen grow into the AMAZING seniors they are today, and then cap their HS careers off w/ a gold medal and 98, which by the way, has been a rare score post-James Logan era. only Avon has achieved scores that high recently, last yr + 2019. and ofc hats off to Cyndi and the team, an unusually small team, btw, esp considering how massive the program is. these days design responsibilities are usually shared by bigger teams at the world class level, but here Cyndi is doing all or most of it herself, across 4 competitive guards, last yr it was 5, + teaching all those kids at both the high school and junior high. just an immense accomplishment. i mean, WOW!! nowww, do i think woodlands might win gold more often if they shared design/teaching responsibilities more??? yeaaah, probably. but this is proof that it CAN be done in this era. aaaand im so happy we've gotten to see Cyndi's personal vision come to life thru the remarkable, and imo standard setting, performers.

With two golds and a silver medal in Scholastic Class WGI World Championships, Team Texas is on fire this season! Congratulations to Melissa HS, Little Elm HS and the Woodlands HS for making history this week!

Being here and witnessing that in person was special. So glad The Woodlands has ascended to the top at long last!

Well, I’m sitting in the UD Arena parking lot, looking at the heaviest rain of the week. Every team tonight will get to experience the nasty weather, trying desperately to keep everything as dry as humanly possible. It’s going to be treacherous for the unload, but am INCREDIBLY excited to be down on the floor with an AMAZING group of 32 young people attempting to finish a truly magical season. I hope everyone here and at home enjoys the performances tonight! GO THE WOODLANDS! GO TEAM TEXAS!!

ALL TEXAS GUARDS (adjusted to Central Time) Thursday, April 3 Prelims Scholastic A: Location: Truist Arena 1:40 PM - Louis D. Brandeis HS, TX 1:56 PM - Garland HS, TX 2:20 PM - Katy HS Varsity, TX 4:05 PM - Tomball Memorial HS, TX 5:50 PM - Foster HS, TX 6:14 PM - Azle HS, TX 6:22 PM - Dripping Springs HS, TX Location: Cintas Center 9:24 AM - Hutto HS, TX 9:40 AM - Veterans Memorial HS, TX 12:05 PM - The Colony HS, TX 1:48 PM - Wylie HS, TX 4:53 PM - Hendrickson HS, TX 5:33 PM - Jordan HS, TX 6:13 PM - Melissa HS, TX Independent A: Location: Dayton Convention Center 1:46 PM - RGV Winter Guard, TX 1:54 PM - Allure Independent, TX 4:35 PM - Ether, TX 5:07 PM - Black Gold, TX 6:44 PM - Redemption Guard, TX 7:24 PM - Eagle Mountain Independent, TX Scholastic Open: Location: Nutter Center 9:33 AM - Emerson HS, TX 11:27 AM - Cedar Ridge HS, TX 12:25 PM - Southlake Carroll HS, TX 1:37 PM - Pearland HS, TX 2:04 PM - Westlake HS, TX 2:22 PM - James Bowie HS, TX 3:26 PM - Little Elm HS, TX 3:35 PM - Cy-Fair HS, TX 5:15 PM - Round Rock HS, TX Independent Open: Location: University of Dayton Arena 8:09 AM - Glory Independent, TX Location: Nutter Center 7:16 PM - Undaunted, TX 7:25 PM - Industry Independent, TX Scholastic World: Location: University of Dayton Arena 2:35 PM - The Woodlands HS, TX Independent World: Location: University of Dayton Arena 3:40 PM - Ménage, TX 3:50 PM - Mirage, TX 5:35 PM - Invictus, TX

Here’s Argyle. No idea what the music is but it looks really interesting. Im guessing it’s about Elysium from greek mythology?

it might!! this was a fairly strong panel, 50% active wgi judges + 50% "retired" ones. dripping springs is peaking at exactly the right time, sort of like grand oaks did last yr. the 90+ crowd in the A class is quite small this year. very exclusive club. meanwhile woodlands A totally flatlined here. that's a surprising result for me, makes me wish i attended to see for myself!! others must have improved a lot!! i thought this was the best woodlands A show of the past 4 years, but they scored way worse than usual. at least they won WGI Austin i guess. they seem to always do better in wgi anyway. maybe take em to Dallas next yr instead? Westlake scoring like they could challenge for an open medal, we'll see if that holds. overtaking Pearland in the overstuffed 3rd round of Dayton prelims will be their first task. where was Pearland, speaking of? 'nother Friendswood situation?? or just a scheduling conflict?? also, cy-fair over bowie here, but it was close. cyfair wins in the three analysis captions, but Bowie takes effect. i hope they both make it into Dayton finals but could be tricky if Oviedo and dobyns have improved a lot. woodlands world up another couple points this week. 94.4. last week at wgi their downstairs scores looked like an impenetrable firewall. this week the upstairs ones look like it, too. DA scores better than expected, including 95s across the board from Pizani. i was projecting a 96-something win for em at Dayton, but that was w/ 98+ downstairs combined w/ 95ish upstairs. if these upstairs scores improve, they may do even better than i think, buuut i have trust issues w/ local circuit scores. might flatline a bit in Dayton. overall, tx high school units heading to Worlds looking very very very strong this yr. independents a lil on the weaker side unfortunately.

What is it, 2007? Didn't Flanagan get the memo? 2025 is all about 30 years of runnin', 30 years of searchin', 30 years of hurtin', 30 years of pain! I honestly think those guards should get together for a group photo at Dayton. 😄

Hey, y'all! Here's to respond to y'all's comments: Our show this year is going to be veryyy different (like not like our usual shows different). It's a show we've been visually and musically wanting to do for a long time. When the show is actually revealed and worked on at the end of May (we have a end of year preview camp), I will tell y'all what it's about. But, I have a lot of hope for this show and I hope y'all enjoy our 2025-2026 show just as much as I will!

now i wanna see Origins return next yr and win Independent World gold. that's the last prize Texas has technically never won, unless u include the tie for Independent Open gold from Odyssey back in the 80s. based on the recent IW chaos, i think the top of that class is more open than it has been!! fitting for tw to be the first Texas group to get the world class gold, bc they were also the first tx group to win any scholastic gold back in 2004. took em over 20 years of bouncing around the classes to finally snag that gold medal in the highest class. better late than never!!!

Team Texas showed up this year for scholastic. So proud of all the teams but especially “my” girls. Having watched them through the last 6 years. So proud of the girls, the directors now and previous that helped get it to where it is. So proud of the parents that step in and do so much for the program. Just so proud of them all!! I said before- but if you have never been to Dayton- find a way to go… it’s magical!

been really busy, in and out. will try to go back and watch little elm and cy fair. congrats to woodlands on 2-pointing the field in prelims, despite both Carmel and arcadia having awesome runs. saw it coming. best run ive see from tw. fabulous on the timing, the pitch of the equipment, the hands. didn't see any drops, just a couple half catches, which is insane given their ludicrously hard book. they make everything look so easy, such calmness and control throughout. congrats to the open classers and A classers so far, too. they're all crushing it rn.

Here my early thoughts on a lot of these J programs for this year; i think itll be another great year as this area impressed me a lot last year LISD big 3 most likely will go to state all again, with my personal order being Flomo Hebron Marcus in that order, all 3 could be in contention for each spot of those positions however; well have to see how their shows for this following year treats them. But my opinion for this specific order is that Flower Mound is way more of a heavy theming school and with all these other schools starting to develop (Bwell, WISD, MISD PESH, etc) I think that theming could possibly start being more necessary Prosper HS is probably gonna have another killer year with the Grand Nats appearance and 16th at the SMBC; however I want to wait and see how the new Richland school they are opening in the west of the district will affect their program before I make any big opinions on their program, but they will most likely be a contender for state once again. Braswell is a bit tricky on me to decide on right now just because of the sudden jump, but I think that they will most likely have another good season, and even possibly a visit to State if they can find a way to take advantage of Prosper high's situation with richland. Also keep in mind DISD is opening a new HS in the Crossroads area in 2027, but that wont be an issue for Bwell for these next few years. Wylie ISD will probably both be finals calibur once more, but keep in mind the new management, more notably Weast now has Sachse's Head director, which could be a really useful asset after their really killer season at SHS last year. Another big thing that could be talked about is the guard programs in these programs could have an effect on the programs this year, with those proposals for the judging system. Little Elm is having a historic Open season; Marcus is still really strong, and Prosper Wylie and Rock hill are also having good seasons this year, but in general a lot of the guards here are really good too not just the ones mentioned here. I think this year will be a great year for pretty much every band in this area and I cant wait to see how their shows end up for this year.

So incredibly proud of Liberty Hill Guard this season. First year participating in WGI and made finals in San Antonio. Made TCGC State Championships for the first time in school history and came in 4th in their round. They can’t be sad about coming in under Jordan, Tomball and Tomball Memorial. It was a fun night for sure.

Foster

I said it on HornRank I'll say it on here- this show looks frickin amazing...

Langham creeks show is called "short circuit"

I've seen enough, just hand them the state trophy

Vandegrift H.S., TX: Gaia’s Embrace Featuring the following musical selections: ”Earth Song” — Frank Ticheli ”Home” from The Sacred Veil — Eric Whitacre ”Child of Wonder” from The Sacred Veil — Eric Whitacre ”Dance of the Earth” from The Rite of Spring — Igor Stravinsky Original music by Andrew Markworth Beyond excited

Tompkins just got added (via their calendar), this comp is looking a lot like a preview for Katy marching festival.

It’s so satisfying seeing The Woodlands be so dominant and be rewarded for all the work they’ve put in this year and the last few years leading to this moment. Also so nice seeing a new champion after 10 years of only Avon, Carmel, or Tarpon Springs winning.

98.00!!! CONGRATULATIONS THE WOODLANDS!!!!

woodlands had their cleanest run in prelims, but the energy of the performers w/ the crowd was undeniable. finals nerves always seem to cause drops ive never seen before!! but overall they managed the pressure very very well. what they're doing is so difficult it's easy to forget bc of how cleanly they execute.

And there it is, your world class winners, and their best run of the season! I was crying before it was over knowing they just did that, and even more so when it was over. Thank you a million times for that show, seeing it in person was life changing, and congrats on your first SW gold medal. The Woodlands high school ladies and gentlemen

OMG LITTLE ELM 98.40😱😱😱 NEW SO RECORD!!!

Scholastic A Final Scores 1. 96.555 - Pope HS, GA 2. 95.115 - Melissa HS, TX 3. 95.030 - River Bluff HS, SC 4. 94.155 - Clovis North HS Varsity, CA 5. 92.855 - Grain Valley HS, MO 6. 92.535 - John C. Birdlebough HS, NY 7. 92.055 - Jordan HS, TX 8. 90.670 - Dripping Springs HS Varsity, TX 9. 90.550 - Katy HS Varsity, TX 10. 88.940 - Tomball Memorial HS, TX 11. 88.095 - Wylie HS, TX 12. 87.930 - Kennesaw Mountain HS, GA 13. 87.210 - Freedom HS, FL 14. 86.035 - Edwardsville HS, IL 15. 85.830 - Lincoln-Way Community Schools, IL 16. 84.765 - Carroll HS, IN 17. 84.410 - Kettering Fairmont HS, OH 18. 84.200 - Franklin HS, OH 19. 83.815 - Lafayette HS, MO 20. 82.010 - Yukon HS, OK

Wylie HS in WGI Finals for the first time in school history!! SO proud of these kids and their directors!

South Houston's show is "The Good, The Bad, and The Galactic". Music Selections include: "Main Theme" from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly "Mars" from The Planets "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey Show Reveal Video

TWHS was incredible in person. Tomorrow night the roof is going to blow off with the crowd… There really are so many great shows this year! If you’ve never been to Dayton to watch in person- put it on your bucket list and make it happen!

Prelims Scholastic A Top 10 Scores: 1. 93.050 - Pope HS, Ga 2. 92.900 - Clovis North HS Varsity, CA 3. 90.850 - Melissa HS, TX 4. 90.640 - Grain Valley HS, MO 5. 90.590 - John C. Birdlebough HS, NY 6. 90.560 - River Bluff H, SC 7. 90.500 - Tomball Memorial HS, TX 8. 89.860 - Wylie HS, TX 9. 89.850 - The Colony HS, TX 10. 89.800 - Dripping Springs HS Varsity, TX

94.1 for The Woodlands, in first by exactly two points!!

Guys….I think they’re gonna do it I mean HOLY COW TW’s!!! No drops, the move so well together, so much emotion and energy, don’t really know what more you could ask for. Ofc the judges can see some little things I’m oblivious to but that was just WOW. I was curious if they’d be a little nervous today knowing this could be their first gold in SW, but they were unfazed. Two more runs like that or better and the sky’s the limit

Emerson wins round 1 of SO🙌🙌

I'll try to make a top ten with as little bias as possible 1. Bridgeland: As a Cy-Fair marcher, this pains me but it's true. Bridgeland is a powerhouse of a marching band and I don't see them declining any time soon 2. Cy-Fair: This is where my only peice of bias comes in, this placement could really go either way between Fair, Woods, and 7L. Our band has been talking about how they plan to refine the band and I won't reveal anything but I think it might work. 3. Seven Lakes: VERY impressive finish last year, I hadn't thought much of them until I saw their state finals run and knew there was something new in this 7L band. I need to see one more perfomance like that from 7L and they will be challenging Bridgeland for the top spot. 4. Cy-Woods: Brought things back after a dissapointing 2023, Woods has always had potential and I think they've unlocked it. It just turns out 7L did at the exact same time. 5. Cinco Ranch: Let's have a moment of silence for Cinco's 2024 state dreams. I belive that they can do it again but the as this area gets better we'll have to see how they evolve 6. Jordan: Interchangable with Cinco, Jordan has really impressed me these past few years. I originally thought 2024 was going to be their first state trip but it didn't work out that way. Still an amazing and young program. 7. JET: Very consitent band, I think that Jordan and Cinco are going to make the push over them this year. 8. Tompkins: Again, interchangable for 5, 6, or 7. Tompkins shocked the world (area) in 2023 when they got third and made state, then they came back down. They've got serious talent I just need to see more. 9. Cy-Ranch: Cy-Ranch has been a growing threat in area I for a few years, a slow growing one but still growing. 10. Langham Creek: The former kings of the area have fallen far, but they're still coming for that number one spot. LC hd an incredible 2024 and I am fully ready to see what they have in store next year. Bubble bands in no order: Katy, Paetow, Jersey Village, Cy-Springs.

Gonna catch as much as I can. I should be able to catch all of SO and SW Saturday, just no award ceremony or IW. Thursday and Friday will be on and off but should be a good amount. can’t believe it’s already the end of the season, best of luck to everyone this weekend!!!

Dripping Springs won SNA last night with a 91.82! Hopefully this is a good sign for them at dayton.

Scholastic World Prelims Scores: 😱1. 94.100 - The Woodlands HS, TX 2. 92.100 - Carmel HS, IN 3. 91.200 - Arcadia HS, CA 4. 91.100 - Flanagan HS, FL T-5. 90.300 - Northview HS, IN T-5. 90.300 - El Dorado HS, CA 7. 89.600 - Warren Central HS, IN 8. 89.000 - Miamisburg HS, OH 9. 86.600 - Center Grove HS, IN 10. 86.400 - Norwin HS, PA 11. 85.200 - Kiski Area HS, PA 12. 83.400 - Fishers HS, IN 13. 83.300 - Chino Hills HS, CA 14. 81.600 - American Fork HS, UT 15. 80.800 - Bellbrook HS, OH 16. 80.400 - Stoneman Douglas HS, FL 17. 78.700 - Ayala HS, CA T-18. 76.700 - Live Oak HS, CA T-18. 76.700 - Milford HS, OH 20. 76.500 - Centerville HS, OH

Scholastic Open Top 36 Prelims Scores: 1. 93.300 - Little Elm HS, TX 2. 92.000 - Pearland HS, TX 3. 91.200 - Noblesville HS, IN 4. 90.500 - Shenendehowa HS, NY 5. 89.700 - Westlake HS, TX 6. 89.500 - Emerson HS, TX 7. 88.600 - Lowndes HS, GA 8. 87.900 - Choctaw HS, OK 9. 87.500 - Oviedo HS, FL 10. 86.600 - Brownsburg HS, IN 11. 86.500 - James Bowie HS, TX 12. 86.400 - Timber Creek HS, FL T-13. 86.100 - Palm Desert Charter MS, CA T-13. 86.100 - Cy-Fair HS, TX T-13. 86.100 - Holly Springs HS, NC T-16. 85.900 - Lockport Township HS, IL T-16. 85.900 - Westfield HS, IN 18. 85.500 - Mililani HS, HI 19. 84.900 - Round Rock HS, TX 20. 84.800 - Desert Vista HS, AZ 21. 84.700 - Dobyns-Bennett HS, TN T-22. 84.200 - Mason HS, OH T-22. 84.200 - Byrnes HS, SC 24. 83.900 - Arlington HS, NY 25. 83.700 - Pendleton Heights HS, IN 26. 83.500 - Mountain Ridge HS, AZ 27. 82.900 Franklin HS, TN 28. 82.600 - Dublin HS, CA 29. 82.200 - William R Boone HS, FL 30. 82.000 - Bethel HS Varsity, CT 31. 81.600 - Eastlake HS, CA T-32. 81.000 - Del Norte HS, CA T-32. 81.000 - Penn HS Varsity, IN 34. 80.600 Southmoore HS, OK 35. 80.30 - Cedar Ridge HS, TX 36. 80.000 - Naperville Central HS, IL

Little Elm was ridiculously good, CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!!! The bodywork is just outstanding, rifles were so well together, I haven’t seen a ton of SO but I could see them medaling fs

the colony up from 15th and a 77.4 at Dallas to 1st in their round today w/ almost a 90. WOW!!! Emerson was good, but they def have a better run in em. the fact that they still nearly full pointed their round is a good sign.

Alright here’s my full plan for this weekend: Thursday- noonish-3:30(Sa and TWs) Friday- whatever I can Saturday-all of SO and SW

Ugh, I am so tired of that piece. I've seen groups perform that back to back and one final had 5 groups with that music throughout the classes. I "hope" everyone got this out of their systems.

aaaand the guy posted Flanagan too. https://youtu.be/mtCAfEVviQ0?si=zaWyK4PzYhcFrFdU the return of the early naughts Hide and Seek guard show!!! ~*nostaaalgia~* performers def on a diff level than they have been. don't think they could have done the roll toss as cleanly last yr. beautiful design too. should they have full pointed tarpon tho?? dunno about that. i think there's a lot of truth to the belief that wgi's judges favor somewhat cookie cutter "slow + pretty" shows, esp over the cerebral, science-y type of show that tarpon does this yr. anywho, i'd still have woodlands comfortably winning in Dayton, unless their performance is way worse than normal. they're like a yr ahead of everyone else in equipment skills. fuller range of artistic expression as well. aaand despite what the scores say, id have arcadia 2nd. think their show is a lil more imaginative than the others in the 2-5 group. like having a nice glass of wine in an aquarium as a professor lectures you LOL. no bias against intellectual shows from me!!! 3rd... hmmm... i'll say Flanagan, but could be Carmel or El Dorado. i like that top three. woodlands w/ a good blend of high excitement and lyricism and intellectual quirkiness. arcadia w/ a risky, more purely intellectual quirkiness w/ subtle emotional builds. and then Flanagan w/ your more typical beautiful Hide and Seek throwback show.

Dawson’s 2025 show is entitled “Ring of Fire” with selections from: Johnny Cash Dragon Force Resphigi Mahler