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July 24th Hattiesburg, MS Unfortunately, this show was cancelled due to weather. Monroe, LA Six of the seven corps in competition came out of the same previous show so we can look at relative improvement in scores. From that group, Blue Stars and Genesis led the way with 1.600 point increases. Santa Clara Vanguard had the smallest increase at 0.425 points. This combination led to SCV ahead of Blue Stars by just 2.375 points, down from 3.550 points the day before. Blue Stars led The Cavaliers by less than 0.300 points in San Antonio. Here, Blue Stars expanded that lead to 0.800 points. July 25th There are no competitions tonight. July 26th Birmingham, AL This is a great show for the battle for the #12 spot. Troopers and Colts should be safely in finals. Crossmen and Madison Scouts tied coming out of San Antonio after Madison edged Crossmen for 12 at the regional. Blue Knights, 14th in San Antonio, have jumped in score since then. Dover, PA This is the largest meeting of Open Class corps competing in Championships to date. Gold arrives from the West Coast for its first competition since July 14th to join Spartans and The Battalion in direct competition. Murfreesboro, TN This is the first competition since the San Antonio regional for Bluecoats, Blue Devils, Boston Crusaders, and Phantom Regiment. These four corps along with fellow San Antonio Top 5 finisher Carolina Crown are out to make a mark after a significant amount of rehearsal time this week. Interestingly, this time last year, several top corps saw rare score decreases on this same night.

July 23rd McKinney, TX Santa Clara Vanguard edged Mandarins by 0.400 points, an increase of one-tenth over San Antonio. Blue Knights put up the largest score increase since San Antonio in this show with a 2.200 point increase. Seattle Cascades came out ahead of Genesis for the first time this season by a 0.100 point margin. When the two corps met for the first time this season on July 12th, Genesis led by nearly four points. Syracuse, NY Les Stentors became the final new corps on the competition field, scoring 58.550 points in its debut. This is about 2.500 points below where the corps stood this time last year. 7th Regiment showed a huge 10+ point increase in its first competition since June 29th. Despite that increase, the corps went from being about seven points behind Spartans a month ago to double that now. July 24th Hattiesburg, MS Some really nice match-ups here. Blue Devils and Boston Crusaders meet for the first time since San Antonio with BD leading by just 0.025 points. Crossmen and Madison Scouts come into the show having tied two nights ago essentially for the 12th-place spot. Since then, Blue Knights scored higher in another show, and all three will be in performance tonight although in separate contests. Pacific Crest still has an outside shot at fighting for that spot as well. Making a statement tonight would help keep the corps in the conversation. Monroe, LA Blue Stars moved ahead of The Cavaliers in San Antonio. Will it stay that way?

July 22nd Mesquite, TX Carolina Crown became the fourth corps to break the 90-point mark on the season. Crossmen moved into a tie for 12th with Madison Scouts after trailing by 0.125 in San Antonio. Music City moved into a tie with The Academy for 18th after trailing by 0.150 in San Antonio. Music City led the way in score improvement since the regional (+1.450) followed by The Academy (+1.300) and Pacific Crest (+1.025). July 23rd McKinney, TX The primary match-up to watch is Mandarins-Santa Clara Vanguard. Mandarins trailed by 0.300 points in San Antonio. Syracuse, NY Les Stentors will be the last Open/World Class competing corps to make its season debut. 7th Regiment returns to competition after performing last on June 29th. In that show, the corps scored about seven points behind Spartans.

Saturday Showdown - As of July 20th For the first of only two times this season (the other being Thursday night in Indianapolis), all 21 World Class corps competed in the same competition, on the same night, with the same judges. We get our first true comparisons. Competitive Landscape Bluecoats continue to lead the way, up nearly six points since this time last week. The corps is 0.425 points ahead of last year’s champion Blue Devils at the same time and leads its nearest competitor by 1.150 points, slightly more than the 1.000 point lead Blue Devils had this time last year. What appeared to be a potential four corps race a week ago seems much more like a three corps race now. First, there’s something about the 90-point mark that creates separation. More importantly, Carolina Crown was 0.300 points out of third place a week ago and is now 1.925 back. Instead, Crown finds itself just 0.300 points ahead of Phantom Regiment for fourth place. PR has not been in fifth or better since 2012 (3rd). A drop to fifth would mark Crown’s lowest finish since 2014 (also 5th). Then we have two northern California corps that have been going back and forth all season separated by just 0.300 points as well for sixth place. Despite the fact that a sixth place finish would be the lowest for SCV since 2011 (also 6th), it feels like a victory after a year out of competition. Even seventh place would be a remarkable achievement for Mandarins, having finished in single digits in World Class competition exactly one time before (6th last year). Blue Stars, The Cavaliers, and, at least earlier this season, Colts, have been neck-and-neck. Blue Stars bested The Cavaliers for the first time in San Antonio, setting up another very narrow margin competition of less than 0.300 points. Colts are a little further back (1.325 from The Cavaliers) but more closely part of the 8-10 club than a 10-11 grouping. Troopers is on an 11th place island at the moment - 1.475 points behind Colts and 1.825 points ahead of Madison Scouts. The fight for 12th place may have narrowed a bit with Madison Scouts, Crossmen, and Blue Knights all within a point. Pacific Crest and Spirit of Atlanta have fallen a bit further back but may still have an outside chance. On the Rise (2+ spots higher than 2023) Madison Scouts is the definitive leader here, currently ranked four spots higher than this time last year and last year’s final rankings. With the lead over The Cavaliers, Blue Stars moved up to being three spots higher than its 2023 finish. However, the corps was in ninth in San Antonio last year before ultimately finishing in 11th. Phantom Regiment is two spots higher than last year’s final position. Boston Crusaders finished in the Top 3 only once (2nd in 2022). The corps fell from second to fourth from this time last year to championships. Phantom Regiment has not finished in the Top 5 since 2012 (3rd). Holding Steady (+1 to -1 spots away from 2023) Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders are both currently one spot ahead of their 2023 finish. Crossmen, The Academy, and Seattle Cascades are even. Blue Devils, Carolina Crown, Mandarins, The Cavaliers, Colts, Troopers, Pacific Crest, and Spirit of Atlanta are all one spot lower. Finishing in second place the last three competitive seasons, Bluecoats leads at this point with hopes of earning its second championship. Despite being one place lower than last year right now, it is notable that Colts and Troopers emerged from their historic runs last year with strong early season results this year as well - never a guarantee. Similarly, while Mandarins would certainly like to place higher than 7th, such a placement would be the second best finish ever for the Sacramento corps. Falling Back (2+ spots lower than 2023) Blue Knights and Music City are currently two spots lower than last year. Genesis and Jersey Surf are three spots lower than last year. A Blue Knights finish in 14th place would match the corps lowest in the Lucas Oil Stadium era (2022). Back in Action Santa Clara Vanguard returned to competition this year and is currently ranked 6th. This would be the corps lowest finish since 2011, however, after a year off the field would still be quite an accomplishment. Similar to the returns of Spirit of Atlanta and Seattle Cascades last year, the corps returned with very little competitive change after finishing 5th in 2022. Open Class The Open Class rankings are: 1st - Spartans (75.850); 2nd - Blue Devils B (73.700); 3rd - The Battalion (72.800). BDB and Gold have not competed in a week, though, so these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Les Stentors will be the last corps to debut - opening up on July 23rd.

July 20th Brunswick, OH The Battalion showed a very large night-over-night score improvement and pulled away from River City Rhythm after the two corps tied the night before. Landisville, PA Raiders debut with a 62.450. This is 1.700 points ahead of where the corps was this time last year although without head-to-head competition it is difficult to draw relative conclusions. San Antonio, TX Bluecoats won with its largest lead of the season and improved significantly more than its closest competitor coming out of the same prior show (0.925 for Bluecoats compared to 0.125 for Carolina Crown). After beating Blue Devils on 7/13 and then tying on 7/16, Boston Crusaders fell behind BD by the narrowest of margins (0.025) among likely medalists. Crown and Phantom Regiment finished just 0.300 points apart. This was the sixth head-to-head match-up for the two corps. The previous closest score was their most recent competition together on 7/18 when Crown won by 1.375. The Santa Clara Vanguard-Mandarins battle has continued from its early days in California right into Texas with the corps closely matched for the 6th position. It took until their 9th head-to-head meeting but Blue Stars bested The Cavaliers, continuing the trend of very tight competition for various spots up and down the rankings. Colts have fallen back a bit from this group. Troopers are a bit on an island in 11th. The battle for 12th is going to be tight once again this year. Madison Scouts made a key move for the spot by taking it in San Antonio, ensuring that it is grouped with the 10-12 corps in upcoming competitions. Crossmen is right behind, back by just 0.125 with Blue Knights 0.825 back from there. Pacific Crest and Spirit of Atlanta have fallen back from that Top 12 conversation. Then The Academy and Music City are bunched together, as are Genesis, Seattle Cascades, and Jersey Surf. July 21st No competitions today July 22nd Mesquite, TX Just one show - the headliner is Carolina Crown although the most important competitive match-up may be Madison Scouts and Crossmen.

July 19th Bellbrook, OH All three corps came in from different shows with 5-6 days between scored performances. The Battalion put up a huge 8.000 point increase after 6 days off to pull into a tie with River City Rhythm, which increased in score by 3.000 points in 5 days. Spartans held a commanding lead with its 4.700 point increase after 6 days out of competition. Houston, TX Bluecoats successfully maintained its undefeated season with a nearly identical lead over Blue Devils (0.950) compared to the two corps' first (and last) meeting (0.900). Blue Devils became the second corps to break 90 on the season. The Cavaliers beat Blue Stars by just 0.600 points, the smallest margin of the season between the two corps. Blue Stars also put some space between themselves and Colts after trading wins earlier in the season. July 20th Brunswick, OH Who will emerge from the tie in the lead? The Battalion or River City Rhythm? Landisville, PA Raiders makes its season debut in what is otherwise an All Ages competition. San Antonio, TX Bluecoats come into the night with a nearly full point lead over Blue Devils. Can anyone make a run at Bluecoats in the first all compete night of the season? Santa Clara Vanguard competes with its competitive equals for the first time this season. How might this impact the corps' standing? Pacific Crest may have the most daunting challenge going on several hours ahead of the other corps battling for the Top 12.

July 18th Denton, TX Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders met head-to-head for the third time. Bluecoats won the early season meeting by 0.300 and the most recent event by 0.900. That gap was narrowed slightly to 0.850 at this show, essentially two in a row with the same spread. Bluecoats also became the first corps to break 90 this season. Phantom Regiment topped Santa Clara Vanguard in the first match-up of the two corps by a large margin of 2.300. This puts PR closer to the Top 4 than 6th. PR also had the largest score increase among the corps coming out of Broken Arrow. This all suggests that PR is solidly in fifth with SCV and Mandarins battling it out for the last spot in the Top 6. Crossmen opened up a little space from Pacific Crest with a 0.600 point victory compared to 0.150 points in the previous match-up. Waco, TX Madison Scouts made a very strong statement with a victory over Blue Knights (0.750 point margin) and Spirit of Atlanta (2.350 point margin). Two nights earlier Blue Knights beat Crossmen so this immediately propels Madison into the Top 12 discussion, a spot the corps has not been in since 2017. July 19th While we all wait for San Antonio on Saturday night, there are still two shows tonight. Bellbrook, OH Three Open Class corps that have yet to compete against each other match up when The Battalion, River City Rhythm, and Spartans compete. It's been 5-6 days for all three since the last scored performance. Houston, TX Bluecoats look to head into the first regional with an undefeated record while Blue Devils will look to close the gap from Broken Arrow. When Blue Stars and The Cavaliers last met on July 13th, The Cavaliers won by the smallest margin of the year at 0.700 points. Blue Stars and Colts have gone back and forth this season so this three corps match-up should prove interesting.

July 16th Abilene, TX Blue Knights moved ahead of Pacific Crest by a 0.250 margin. Crossmen squeezed in between both, just 0.100 points behind BK and 0.150 points ahead of PC. These three corps look to be in a very tight battle for the last spot in finals. Guardians made its season debut with a 60.750. Broken Arrow, OK Bluecoats emerge with a 0.900 point lead over the tied for second place Blue Devils and Boston Crusaders. Bluecoats have yet to lose a contest this season. The fourth place Carolina Crown seems like its in another group at 1.500 points out of second place with Phantom Regiment similarly isolated at 2.200 points behind Crown and 2.050 points ahead of Mandarins with room for Santa Clara Vanguard to fit into the Top 6 picture. The Cavaliers became the 10th corps to break 80 on the season. Hutchinson, KS This was an unscored event. July 17th There are no shows tonight. July 18th Denton, TX Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders meet head-to-head for the third time. Bluecoats won the early season meeting by 0.300 and the most recent event by 0.900. Santa Clara Vanguard competes with Carolina Crown and Phantom Regiment for the first time this season. The SCV/PR line-up should be interesting based on the relative performance considerations. With SCV and Mandarins going back and forth and a 2.050 point spread between PR and Mandarins in Broken Arrow, SCV would have to make a serious move to get to the #5 spot. Crossmen and Pacific Crest meet for the second show in a row with Crossmen ahead by just 0.150 points. Waco, TX Blue Knights, Madison Scouts, and Spirit of Atlanta have never competed against anyone in this grouping that could all be bunched together. It will be interesting to see whether there are more contenders for the #12 spot that emerge. Jersey Surf joins the rest of the World Class tour for the first time.

July 15th Canyon, TX I feel good about seeing this one coming. Blue Knights led Pacific Crest by 3.050 on July 10th but just 1.100 on July 13th. On July 15, PC took the lead by a 1.400 margin. This is a swing of nearly 3.500 points in just under a week. The two corps match up again tonight. Olathe, KS Colts and Troopers met head-to-head for the first time this season with Colts holding a 1.000 point advantage. Colts also became the 9th corps to break 80 on the season. July 16th Abilene, TX Pacific Crest and Blue Knights meet for the second night in a row and nearby competitor Crossmen joins the mix. This is an important early indication of whether PC and BK are in the same category as Crossmen for the fight for 12th. Guardians makes its season debut. Broken Arrow, OK All eyes will be on Oklahoma tonight as Blue Devils meet the east and midwest corps for the first time. The performance order creates an interesting consideration as Boston Crusaders will be performing earlier than the other likely title contenders. Hutchinson, KS Colt Cadets and The Battalion meet head-to-head for the first time this season.

July 14th Ankeny, IA Blue Stars beat Colts by a decisive margin and became corps #8 to break the 80 point mark. Colt Cadets had the largest score improvement on the night at 3.450 points. The corps had last competed on July 11th. Cerritos, CA Impulse, Golden Empire, and Vessel all completed their competitive seasons. Impulise finished 0.350 points ahead of last year while Golden Empire (-5.450) and Vessel (-4.350) were significantly behind where they finished last season. July 15th Canyon, TX My attention is on Blue Knights-Pacific Crest. The corps met on July 10th (Blue Knights by 3.050) and July 13th (Blue Knights by 1.100). Olathe, KS Colts and Troopers meet head-to-head for the first time this season.

July 13th Clifton, NJ Jersey Surf opened the season six days earlier relative to DCI Championships this year compared to last year. Scoring 63.800, the corps begins the season ranked 27th, just behind Seattle Cascades. DeKalb, IL The Cavaliers reclaimed its position as the top corps in the three-corps pack with Blue Stars and Colts. Blue Stars moved ahead of Colts for the first time since July 3rd, albeit by just 0.050 points. Bluecoats competed for the first time in nearly a week and showed a score improvement of 3.650 points, good enough to be at the top of the rankings on this key Saturday evening. Fort Collins, CO Santa Clara Vanguard improved by 2.350 points, which was 0.550 points more than Mandarins show over show, good enough to propel SCV back into the lead over their northern California competition. The two corps are now 4-4 in heads-to-head competition this season. Blue Devils improved by less than both at 1.550 points. There were much smaller increases and small decreases for the group of corps coming out of Cheyenne. Troopers (-0.650), The Battalion ( -0.650), and Pacific Crest (-0.400) all decreased, Genesis stayed flat, and Seattle Cascades (+0.300) and The Academy (+0.800) saw small score increases. Little Rock, AR Boston Crusaders even up the head-to-head competition with Carolina Crown at two wins apiece, however Boston loses its spot as the top scoring corps in the circuit to Bluecoats in separate shows. Crown's return to competition for the first time in five days saw a relatively modest score increase of 1.800 points. Spirit of Atlanta made a big statement with a 2.500 point increase. Large in its own right, it's even larger compared to the increases of the other corps coming out of the same previous show: Boston (+0.100), Crossmen (+0.500), and Music City (+0.800). Vista, CA Blue Devils B maintained a large lead over Gold although Gold closed the gap by 0.900 points night over night. In the penultimate show for the rest of the group, Impulse (+2.600) and Golden Empire (+2.400) put up large increases. Saturday Showdown Annual Caveat - It's way too early to analyze scores. In one week, we will begin the regional process and get actual comparisons. The reason I first started this method of data comparison was to create a data-based year-over-year comparison. So, here we go anyway! Competitive Landscape Bluecoats lead the way with an 87.050. This is 2.550 points lower than the leader this time last year. While not quite as close as this time two years ago (when the top 4 corps were all within 1.100 points), things are tighter at the top this year compared to last year. Bluecoats is ahead of Boston Crusaders by 0.900 (0.600 more than when the two corps met the only time this season on July 2nd). Blue Devils is 0.600 points back from Boston and Carolina Crown is another 0.300 points behind Blue Devils. Looking at small spreads, Phantom Regiment could have an outside shot at this grouping, trailing Crown by 0.500 points, much closer than when the two met head-to-head three times early in the season. All five of these corps are together on Tuesday in Broken Arrow, OK. Santa Clara Vanguard and Mandarins are tied tightly together in the 6-7 range while The Cavaliers, Blue Stars, and Colts are tightly connected in the 8-10 range. There has not been any crossover between these two groups yet to give us an indication of where the mix really lines up. The Cavaliers and Mandarins go head-to-head on Tuesday in Broken Arrow, OK which will allow us to do some comparative analysis. All except SCV will be together in Houston later in the week as well prior to the full line-up coming together in San Antonio. Similarly, there are no good common competitors to look at the next corps in relative terms. Purely from a scoring standpoint, Troopers and Crossmen are close together in the 11-12 range with Spirit of Atlanta, Blue Knights, Madison Scouts, and Pacific Crest pretty tight in the 13-16 range. On the Rise (2+ spots higher than 2023) Removing Santa Clara Vanguard from the calculation after a year out of competition, there is much less significant movement right now than there was this time last year. Blue Stars, Boston Crusaders, Phantom Regiment, and Spirit of Atlanta are all currently two spots higher than their final ranking last year. Boston Crusaders has finished in the Top 3 only once (2nd in 2022). The corps fell from second to fourth from this time last year to championships. Phantom Regiment has not finished in the Top 5 since 2012 (3rd). Spirit of Atlanta’s 13th position matches its most recent two finishes before taking a year off the competition field (2018, 2019). Holding Steady (+1 to -1 spots away from 2023) Bluecoats, Crossmen, and Madison Scouts are all currently one spot ahead of their 2023 finish. The Cavaliers and Music City are even. Carolina Crown, Colts, Genesis, Mandarins, Seattle Cascades, The Academy, and Troopers are one spot lower. Finishing in second place the last three competitive seasons, Bluecoats leads at this point with hopes of earning its second championship. After missing finals last year and finishing in 14th place, Crossmen sits in the last finalist spot with multiple head-to-head victories of the current 13th place corps. Music City is currently even with its final placement in each of the last two years. This would match the corps’ highest placement ever once again. Despite being one place lower than last year right now, it is notable that Colts and Troopers emerged from their historic runs last year with strong early season results this year as well - never a guarantee. Similarly, while Mandarins would certainly like to place higher than 7th, such a placement would be the second best finish ever for the Sacramento corps. Falling Back (2+ spots lower than 2023) Blue Devils, Blue Knights, and Pacific Crest are all currently two spots lower than last year. Jersey Surf is four spots lower than last year. After earning their first three-peat last year, Blue Devils are currently seated in third place. The corps has never finished lower than second at finals in Lucas Oil Stadium. It is hard to fathom, but the last time Blue Devils placed in third or lower (2006), this year’s age-outs weren’t yet in kindergarten. A Blue Knights finish in 14th place would match the corps lowest in the Lucas Oil Stadium era (2022). Jersey Surf only has one competition on the books at this point. Back in Action Santa Clara Vanguard returned to competition this year and is currently ranked 6th. This would be the corps lowest finish since 2011, however, after a year off the field would still be quite an accomplishment. Similar to the returns of Spirit of Atlanta and Seattle Cascades last year, the corps returned with very little competitive change after finishing 5th in 2022. Open Class The Open Class rankings are: 1st - Blue Devils B (72.950); 2nd - Gold (70.400); 3rd - Spartans (69.150). After today, BDB is off the competition field until August 5th so head-to-head comparisons will be difficult. The corps has consistently bested Gold. Gold and Spartans match up in Dover, PA on July 26th. There are still three corps yet to compete that will be making their way to championships - Guardians (July 16th); Raiders (July 20th); Les Stentors (July 23rd). July 14th Ankeny, IA Blue Stars and Colts are back at it. Cerritos, CA Golden Empire, Impulse, and Vessel complete their 2024 competitive seasons.

July 12th Cheyenne, WY Genesis made its season debut with a score of 67.950. This score is 2.550 points below where the corps was on this night last year and puts the corps in 22nd place (2 lower than this time last year). With the other corps in the show traveling together, the head-to-head improvements are comparable. Pacific Crest put up the largest score increase (2.800 points) followed by The Battalion (1.950), Troopers (1.750), The Academy (0.850), and Seattle Cascades (0.300). Riverside, CA Blue Devils B continues to dominate the Open Class competition in California and became the first Open Class corps to break 70. BDB, Gold, and Impulse all improved by more than three points after five days out of competition. Vessel showed an almost four point increase with one additional day off the field. July 13th What a day we have ahead of ourselves! There are five shows, all 21 World Class corps are in competition for the first time, and another 7 Open Class corps on on the field not to mention the All Age and Alumni groups that will be performing. Barring rain, heat, or power issues, we should have ourselves a nice in-depth analysis tomorrow. Clifton, NJ Primarily an All-Age show (shout out to my mother who will be performing with the Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni), this show does have the final World Class debut of the season with Jersey Surf on the ticket. DeKalb, IL The most interesting storyline here is the 0.050 points separating The Cavaliers, Colts, and Blue Stars. The Cavaliers opened the season with big leads over both Colts (2.850 points) and Blue Stars (1.600 points). When the three corps met most recently The Cavaliers and Colts were tied with Blue Stars trailing by one half of one tenth of a percent. At the top of the ticket, Bluecoats look to make a big statement after six days out of scored competition. The last time the corps took the field, it had the highest score in DCI. Will Bluecoats reclaim that position tonight? Fort Collins, CO Mandarins and Santa Clara Vanguard have gone head-to-head seven times with SCV taking the first three meetings and Mandarins the last four. However, the most recent competition narrowed the Mandarins lead to just 0.250 points. Little Rock, AR Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown meet for the fourth time this season with Crown holding a 2-1 edge. Boston enters the night with the top score of the season just two nights ago while Crown has not been scored in five days. Further down in the rankings, Music City has closed the gap slightly with Spirit of Atlanta each time the two corps meet. Vista, CA This is the second of three nights of California Open Class corps.

Thank you! Corrected.

July 11th And away we go! Dubuque, IA This was about as interesting of a show as we can have before the true head-to-head regional match-ups begin. Phantom Regiment and Colts came in together from Mankato two nights earlier. Phantom showed a 1.500 point increase while Colts had an increase of 1.150 points. Blue Stars competed for the first time since four nights earlier and improved by 2.500 points. The Cavaliers were in competition for the first time in five days yet only had a 0.950 point improvement. The net result of all of that was an extremely tight bunching of scores in the current 8-10 range with The Cavaliers and Colts tied for 8th at 78.100 and Blue Stars right behind at 78.050. To my knowledge, this is the first time Colts have ever tied or beaten The Cavaliers. It is safe to say that the Colts is making a run this year at beating its best ever placement, earned last year with a 9th place finish. Muscle Shoals, AL Boston Crusaders continue to make strong statements night after night and remain the top scoring corps on the season so far at 86.050 points. Score changes were modest for the corps in this show however Music City did tighten up the gap with Spirit of Atlanta from 0.950 points two nights ago to just 0.450 points last night. July 12th Cheyenne, WY Genesis makes its season debut. Riverside, CA California's Open Class corps return to the field, for the final weekend of the season for Golden Empire, Impulse, and Vessel.

July 10th Ogden, UT Just the one show in Utah last night. Let's compare the corps that competed on back-to-back days coming from Boise and with those corps competing with a gap of two days coming from Sacramento. The Battalion competed for the first time this season, opening with a score of 60.750, an increase of 1.100 points over last year's debut on the same night of the season. This is the smallest margin of victory for Mandarins over Santa Clara Vanguard since Mandarins first won on July 5th. Boise Two corps saw score decreases - Mandarins (-0.100) and Seattle Cascades (-0.900) and two corps saw score increases - Troopers (+1.450) and Blue Knights (+1.200). Sacramento All four corps saw increases - Blue Devils (+1.950), Santa Clara Vanguard (+2.150), Pacific Crest (+0.600), and The Academy (+2.350). Mandarins were also at this show and increased 1.500 points fro Sacramento to Ogden. July 11th Dubuque, IA The trajectories of Blue Stars and Colts have been linked so far this season. What imapct will a few extra days of rehearsal for the Blue Stars have? Muscle Shoals, AL The same group that was together on 7/9 is together again. The closest competitive match-up is between Spirit of Atlanta and Music City (0.950 points separation).