Colts, Troopers regain finalist status at historic 2022 Semis

by Jeff Griffith

Colts and Troopers — two corps that haven’t appeared in a DCI World Championships Finals lineup in more than a decade — both earned spots in Saturday’s Top 12 with their Semifinals results.

For Colts, 2022 marks the Dubuque, Iowa corps’ first finalist placement since 2007. The corps’ Friday score of 87.450 was its highest of all time.

“We wanted to take nothing for granted,” Colts director Vicki MacFarlane said. “I was going into the night knowing, ‘Okay, this could be a devastating outcome, or we could have the happiest outcome in our history with our highest score.’”

Troopers earned the 12th and final spot in Saturday’s event at the tail end of a late-season scoring surge. In the most recent competitive DCI season, 2019, Troopers finished in 18th place.

“It’s a dream come true,” Troopers drum major Aaron O’Bar said. “It feels really good to be able to come here and make Finals in my ageout. Troopers have been here for a long time, and I know this means a lot for everybody.”

With Colts’ and Troopers’ finalist bids, 2022 marks the first year since 2008 to feature multiple finalists who did not appear in the previous competitive season’s Top 12.

Blue Devils posted a strong top score of 98.300 and opened its lead to 1.325 points over the competing field. The Concord corps — which continued its undefeated season entering Saturday’s Finals — swept all captions except percussion and color guard. Blue Devils’ Friday score was just 0.025 points shy of its championship-winning tally in 2019.

Boston Crusaders and Bluecoats tied for second place, with the Boston corps outscoring its Canton-based counterpart in general effect but Bluecoats’ music scores making up the difference. Boston Crusaders earned first place in color guard, while Bluecoats scored within 0.05 points of the night’s top percussion score.

“It was amazing,” Bluecoats drum major Vic Lee said. “Just the crowd reaction — it was a really good time.”

Carolina Crown remained within a point of the top three while scoring as high as second in brass and third in color guard. Santa Clara Vanguard rounded out the top five and took the night’s top percussion score. The Santa Clara corps scored closer to Carolina Crown, just 0.663 points, than it has at any point head-to-head this season.

The Cadets held serve in sixth place, continuing to improve upon what now marks the corps’ highest score since 2015 with a final tally of 93.288.

Blue Stars kept its slim lead over The Cavaliers intact; the two were separated by just 0.237 in Prelims, but Blue Stars’ lead opened up slightly to 0.387 Friday night. Blue Stars’ strong numbers in general effect especially made up for the Rosemont, Illinois’ corps lead in total music. The Cavaliers scored as high as fifth in percussion.

Phantom Regiment, which scored 0.55 points ahead of Mandarins in Prelims, kept its lead by points thanks to standout music scores.

Colts and Troopers remained quite close to one another, with Colts’ visual scores making the difference between the two. Troopers scored as high as 10th in percussion; its total music score played a major role in fending off Crossmen, which scored just 0.05 points behind the Casper corps in Thursday’s Prelims.

Largely on the wings of stout general effect scores, Crossmen kept its advantage over Blue Knights. Both Crossmen and Blue Knights earned the highest score of all time for their respective placements.

Madison Scouts earned its first Top 15 finish since 2017, while also outdoing its 2019 final score by 1.587 points. The Academy held serve ahead of Music City, keeping its close lead thanks to strong scores in music captions.

The Nashville corps’ finish, though, was its best ever, and an improvement of four placements over its previous best, earned in 2018. Music City’s final score was also an all-time best, shattering the previous high of 78.175.

In its first return to the DCI World Championships since 2018, Vanguard Cadets matched its most recent final placement. The Santa Clara corps outscored Music City and The Academy in visual proficiency.

The recent close race between Genesis and Pacific Crest finished with Pacific Crest holding an advantage of 1.437, thanks largely to strong scores in music captions. Genesis set its second-highest placement ever in 21st, while Pacific Crest’s finish marked its third consecutive season in the Top 20.

Gold completed its historic season with an all-time best finish and all-time best final score. The San Diego corps’ 2022 output was an increase of nearly two points from its previous best, 77.100, earned in 2019.

Blue Devils B kept its lead over Spartans intact thanks especially to strong scores in general effect. The Nashua corps, which matched its second-best final placement in 23rd, appeared in its ninth consecutive Semifinals event.

Both Guardians and Jersey Surf made waves in making it to Friday’s event. The Texas corps’ Semifinals performance was its first ever; Guardians’ 24th-place finish is five placements better than its previous best, 29th, earned in 2018 and 2019.

For Jersey Surf, Friday marked its second-consecutive Semifinals appearance after having missed the Top 25 cutoff in the previous four seasons. The corps outscored Guardians in the percussion, brass and visual proficiency captions.

“I’m feeling absolutely electric,” Jersey Surf drum major Daniel Davis said. “I think we really brought the energy to the crowd today … We really threw down a great show.”

The top-12 corps from Friday’s event will perform Saturday in the DCI World Championship Finals, with the first corps, Troopers, set to step off at 6:30 p.m. ET.