BandFan59

The CTJ band boosters and students work very hard to raise funds and put their productions together. Discounting their efforts as mere "bells and whistles" is extremely disrespectful to the amount of hard work, time, and dedication they put into performing their shows. They didn't get to the level they're at by buying their way to the top.

Vandegrift is my winner's pick right now, but I could see any one of Reagan, Woodlands, or CTJ being able to upset them. I have Hebron winning the music caption with the absurd music book they have, but I just don't think the show is strong enough visually to compete with the others. I see Cedar Park and one of Marcus or Vista Ridge in the top half, and then the usual suspects filling out finals with Leander, Cedar Ridge, Keller, etc. I'm also more confident in Coppell finally getting back into SA finals after their excellent performances at St. Louis. 2nd in prelims over Blue Springs and 3rd in finals by a decent margin is very impressive for the new staff there.

Fossil Ridge definitely has a chance at getting into finals. They're in a great school district for band so I'm sure they're going to be a threat to get into finals. This is a very competitive area though, probably the most competitive in the state, so it's going to be hard. I also would love to see Timber Creek finally advance to state after the heartbreaks they've gone through, but it'll be tough competition with Southlake Carroll and Waxahachie looking very good. This area really needed to have one more state qualifier spot.

I saw that video a couple hours ago. While I'm still not the biggest fan of the show design and there is some visual dirt that needs to be cleaned up, Vista Ridge is much improved and I have them solidly in finals here, probably in the 8-10 range as of right now.

This is Cedar Park's to lose. They have a fantastic show this year and I would love to see them finally win what I believe would be their first BOA event. I'd say Rouse will probably get the silver medal and James Bowie the bronze here. As for the rest of finals, I'd probably say bands like Hendrickson, Dripping Springs, Summit, Aledo, Johnson, Burleson Centennial, and Colleyville Heritage will fill out the remaining spots.

Recaps were released overnight. James Martin was only 0.73 points below Blue Springs South, the last band in finals, and were two places away from making it. Very interesting to note: Coppell actually finished 2nd above Blue Springs in prelims by 0.65 points. The last time Blue Springs was below 2nd at St. Louis in prelims or finals was in 2015 finals when they finished 3rd behind Union and Broken Arrow. A huge day for Texas bands yesterday!

Though I have Blue Springs solidly in finals here, I actually expected a larger gap between them and Broken Arrow (2+) and a smaller gap between them and Coppell. Broken Arrow's show is a monster this year.

Summit's been having a great season so far. Wherever they finish at state they should be proud of what they've accomplished.

Finals Results 1. Broken Arrow H.S., OK - 92.65 2. Blue Springs H.S., MO - 90.90 3. Coppell H.S., TX - 88.575 4. Prosper H.S., TX - 86.85 5. Southlake Carroll H.S., TX - 86.20 6. Mustang H.S., OK - 85.85 7. Grain Valley H.S., MO - 84.425 8. Rosemount H.S., MN - 83.25 9. O'Fallon Township H.S., IL - 83.05 10. Bentonville H.S., AR - 83.05 11. Lincoln H.S., SD - 81.85 12. Bixby H.S., OK - 81.45 13. Union H.S., OK - 80.20 14. Blue Springs South H.S., MO - 80.00 Outstanding Music Performance - Broken Arrow H.S., OK Outstanding Visual Performance - Broken Arrow H.S., OK Outstanding General Effect - Broken Arrow H.S., OK

This bodes well for Waxahachie next week at area with the similar judging rubrics

Broken Arrow is insane. I don't see them finishing out of a medalist position in November, and I have them winning it all right now. Absolutely incredible performance that flows so well together.

Blue Springs was really, really good. They're a finals caliber band for me here no doubt.

Crazy to see how close these scores were. Any one of them could win state.

Some really good performances from the bottom half bands here. St. Louis gets deeper every year.

Have some class, these students all work hard on their shows and don't need disparaging comments like these

Finals Schedule 7:30 p.m. – Class A Exhibition: Sullivan H.S., MO 7:45 p.m. – Lincoln H.S., SD 8:00 p.m. – Blue Springs South H.S., MO 8:15 p.m. – Bentonville H.S., AR 8:30 p.m. – Bixby H.S., OK 8:45 p.m. – Union H.S., OK 9:00 p.m. – Rosemount H.S., MN 9:15 p.m. – O’Fallon Township H.S., IL 9:30 p.m. – Prosper H.S., TX 9:45 p.m. – Blue Springs H.S., MO 10:00 p.m. – Grain Valley H.S., MO 10:15 p.m. – Broken Arrow H.S., OK 10:30 p.m. – Coppell H.S., TX 10:45 p.m. – Southlake Carroll H.S., TX 11:00 p.m. – Mustang H.S., OK All three Texas bands in finals are in the top half

Full Prelims Results Class AAAA Outstanding Music Performance: Broken Arrow H.S., OK Outstanding Visual Performance: Broken Arrow H.S., OK Outstanding General Effect: Broken Arrow H.S., OK 1st - Broken Arrow H.S., OK 2nd - Coppell H.S., TX 3rd - Southlake Carroll H.S., TX Class AAA Outstanding Music Performance: Blue Springs H.S., MO Outstanding Visual Performance: Blue Springs H.S., MO Outstanding General Effect: Blue Springs H.S., MO 1st - Blue Springs H.S., MO 2nd - Lincoln H.S., SD 3rd - Rosemount H.S., MN Class AA Outstanding Music Performance: Grain Valley H.S., MO Outstanding Visual Performance: Grain Valley H.S., MO Outstanding General Effect: Grain Valley H.S., MO 1st - Grain Valley H.S., MO 2nd - Camdenton H.S., MO 3rd - Fort Zumwalt North H.S., MO Class A Outstanding Music Performance: Archbishop Alter H.S., OH Outstanding Visual Performance: Archbishop Alter H.S., OH Outstanding General Effect: Sullivan H.S., MO 1st - Sullivan H.S., MO 2nd - Archbishop Alter H.S., OH 3rd - Hollister H.S., MO Finalists (in random order): Union H.S., OK Blue Springs H.S., MO Rosemount H.S., MN Mustang H.S., OK Coppell H.S., TX Southlake Carroll H.S., TX Prosper H.S., TX O'Fallon Township H.S., IL Grain Valley H.S., MO Lincoln H.S., SD Bentonville H.S., AR Broken Arrow H.S., OK Blue Springs South H.S., MO Bixby H.S., OK

Just saw a video of the Woodlands from last night at their football game, and wow do they look impressive. There's a lot more choreography now throughout the show so there's not nearly as much park and bark. The guard is incredible and really does a great job in everything they do. The closer is certainly more up tempo and demanding than the rest of the show, but the GE is off the charts with the end of the show. I wasn't sure if a show with this kind of theme would be considered an Eagle winning show, but if there ever is such a show than this is the one.

I watched their high cams on YouTube just now, and I think I agree with you. Both groups are fantastic don't get me wrong, but they don't scream national championship caliber to me like, say, Broken Arrow does right now. Of the two I'd probably say Carmel is performing at a higher level right now, but Avon has more potential with their show for me.

I also think Waxahachie will advance to state, but Southlake Carroll has a genuine shot at advancing this year. They've improved a lot over the past few years and have a great show this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they did manage to advance in this competitive area.

I have Reagan, CTJ, Cedar Ridge, Round Rock, and Westwood qualifying for state in that order. I think Hays and McNeil will solidly be in finals with the good prelim times they drew. Not too sure about the rest of the field here, but interesting to see James Bowie isn't participating at area/state this year. I know they have BOA Waco on their schedule for the weekend of this and the other 6A area contests.

Our Texas bands are spread throughout the day tomorrow in prelims. Here are the times for each of them: 9:30 a.m. - Coppell H.S., TX 11:00 a.m. - James Martin H.S., TX 2:00 p.m. - Southlake Carroll H.S., TX 3:00 p.m. - Prosper H.S., TX Prelims awards ceremony begins at 4:00 p.m.

What I think will happen right now: 1. Broken Arrow (Visual/GE) 2. Flower Mound (Music) 3. Avon 4. Ronald Reagan 5. Carmel 6. The Woodlands 7. Claudia Taylor Johnson 8. Marcus 9. Vista Ridge 10. William Mason 11. Blue Springs 12. Wando What I would like to happen: 1. Claudia Taylor Johnson (Music/GE) 2. Broken Arrow (Visual) 3. Flower Mound 4. Avon 5. Ronald Reagan 6. The Woodlands 7. Carmel 8. Marcus 9. Vista Ridge 10. Blue Springs 11. William Mason 12. Round Rock Obviously this is all subject to change but it's fun to speculate about

Panel 1 is definitely the stronger panel. The first block on Friday alone has 5 likely finalists with Reagan, Blue Springs, Vista Ridge, Broken Arrow, and Flower Mound all performing very close to each other, with a bubble band in Rosemount in betwen them. Then you have Marcus, William Mason, Round Rock, Dobyns-Bennett, Homestead, Castle, Brownsburg, and Marian Catholic also in Panel 1. Going to be tough to get into the top 11 from that panel.

Grand Nationals Line-Up Thursday, November 11 Panel 1 TBA 8:15 TBA 8:30 John Hardin H.S., KY 8:45 Meade County H.S., KY 9:00 Clinton-Massie H.S., OH 9:15 Norton H.S., OH 9:30 Walter E. Stebbins H.S., OH 9:45 St. Clairsville H.S., OH 10:00 Springboro H.S., OH 10:15 Warren Local H.S., OH 10:30 Milton-Union H.S., OH 10:45 Archbishop Alter H.S., OH 11:00 Indianapolis Public Schools Music Showcase Panel 2 Bentonville H.S., AR 11:45 Davenport Central H.S., IA 12:00 Bishop Fenwick H.S., OH 12:15 Christian County H.S., KY 12:30 Boyle County H.S., KY 12:45 Columbus North H.S., IN 1:00 Fairborn H.S., OH 1:15 Christian Academy of Louisville, KY 1:30 Indian Hill H.S., OH 1:45 Hamilton H.S., OH 2:00 Hardin Valley Academy, TN 2:15 Miamisburg H.S., OH 2:30 Lake Hamilton H.S., AR 2:45 BREAK Panel 1 Tippecanoe H.S., OH 3:30 Easley H.S., SC 3:45 Central Crossing H.S., OH 4:00 Homestead H.S., IN 4:15 Greenon Jr./Sr. H.S., OH 4:30 Dobyns-Bennett H.S., TN 4:45 Plymouth-Canton Ed. Park, MI 5:00 Monrovia H.S., IN 5:15 Marcus H.S., TX 5:30 Castle H.S., IN 5:45 Piqua H.S., OH 6:00 Chattahoochee H.S., GA 6:15 Nixa H.S., MO 6:30 William Mason H.S., OH 6:45 BREAK Panel 2 Center Grove H.S., IN 7:30 Lawrence Township, IN 7:45 Avon H.S., IN 8:00 Huron Valley, MI 8:15 Carmel H.S., IN 8:30 Talawanda H.S., OH 8:45 Fishers H.S., IN 9:00 Lakota East H.S., OH 9:15 Pinecrest Academy of Nevada Cadence, NV 9:30 O'Fallon Township H.S., IL 9:45 Carroll H.S., OH 10:00 Wando H.S., SC 10:15 Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX 10:30 Friday, November 12 Panel 1 Logan Elm H.S., OH 7:00 Estill County H.S., KY 7:15 Ronald Reagan H.S., TX 7:30 Blue Springs H.S., MO 7:45 Rosemount H.S., MN 8:00 Signal Mountain H.S., TN 8:15 Vista Ridge H.S., TX 8:30 Broken Arrow H.S., OK 8:45 Flower Mound H.S., TX 9:00 DeSoto Central H.S., MS 9:15 Neosho H.S., MO 9:30 Mark Twain H.S., MO 9:45 Mustang H.S., OK 10:00 BREAK Panel 2 The Woodlands H.S., TX 10:45 Nordonia H.S., OH 11:00 Collinsville H.S., IL 11:15 Rockford H.S., MI 11:30 Lebanon H.S., OH 11:45 Greendale H.S., WI 12:00 Greenfield Central H.S., IN 12:15 Central Hardin H.S., KY 12:30 Mount Pleasant H.S., MI 12:45 University H.S., IL 1:00 Northmont H.S., OH 1:15 Russell Independent H.S., KY 1:30 Cleveland H.S., NC 1:45 BREAK Panel 1 Hollister H.S., MO 2:30 Morton H.S., IL 2:45 Munster H.S., IN 3:00 Danville H.S., IL 3:15 Beechwood H.S., KY 3:30 Brownsburg H.S., IN 3:45 Round Rock H.S., TX 4:00 East Clinton H.S., OH 4:15 Centerville H.S., OH 4:30 Pulaski County H.S., KY 4:45 Lake Central H.S., IN 5:00 Marian Catholic H.S., IL 5:15 BREAK Panel 2 Murray H.S., KY 6:00 Jenison H.S., MI 6:15 Grayson County H.S., KY 6:30 Collinsville H.S., OK 6:45 Owen County H.S., KY 7:00 Carlisle H.S., OH 7:15 Bourbon County H.S., KY 7:30 Anderson County H.S., KY 7:45 Milford H.S., OH 8:00 Norwin H.S., PA 8:15 Franklin H.S., TN 8:30 Exhibition: Murray State University 8:45