SAN ANTONIO — After a perfect run in early season events in California, the Bluecoats continued their tear as the DCI Tour marches through Texas. Now adding DCI Southwestern Champions to their growing list of 2026 accolades, the corps showed grace under the gravity of Saturday night’s major regional event at the Alamodome to remain undefeated on the season.
At the event presented by Fred J. Miller — the DCI Tour’s biggest to date — the Canton, Ohio corps bested a field of all other World Class corps on way to a first-place finish with a score of 93.050, just 0.163 points off the record high of 93.213 set last season by the Boston Crusaders.
Sweeping all captions on the scoresheets, Bluecoats added 1.9 points to their score from Friday in Houston, while laying claim to their fourth DCI Southwestern Championship win since 2016 and first since 2024, two seasons that saw them capture World Championship titles by season’s end.
“This show (“Gravity and Grace”) has just been something really special,” said Bluecoats drum major Jason Zheng. “The people around us are really what make the season what it is, and from day one, our group has always been there for each other and supporting each other through every single day. This show has felt magical because of it.”
1. Bluecoats » 93.050
2. Boston Crusaders » 90.888
3. Blue Devils » 90.825
4. Carolina Crown » 90.425
With the Bluecoats holding the top spot for the time being, the race for second place has become one of the most thrilling developments of the summer as the DCI Tour converges in the Southwest. In the days leading up to San Antonio, many of this season’s highest-scoring corps received their first head-to-head matchups as part of the DCI Texas Series presented by USBands.
Friday night in Houston, the second- through fourth-place corps (Boston Crusaders, Blue Devils, Carolina Crown) were separated by a single point. This trend continued into the Southwestern Championship now with only a 0.463 difference between the same three groups.
The Boston Crusaders and Blue Devils locked into one of the closest battles of the entire event, with the Crusaders holding a minuscule advantage of just 0.063 points. Boston capitalized on a half-point advantage over the Blue Devils in overall Music to stay ahead, despite placing fourth in General Effect. The Visual caption in particular was a strong suit for the Blue Devils on Saturday night, as they held a four-tenths advantage over the Crusaders.
Despite that push from their West Coast competitor, the Crusaders remained unshakable.
“We were locked in from the moment we woke up,” said Boston Crusaders drum major Amari Lewis. “The moment we woke up to the moment we stepped on the field, (it was) with nothing but excellence. I mean every breath, every thought, every tick was pushing forward, moving forward.”
Lewis, speaking on the Crusaders’ commitment and dedication as they defend their 2025 World Championship title, implored anyone questioning how Boston would look in 2026 to simply watch the tape.
“I don’t think there are words that can describe the level of excellence that we just excrete out of our blood,” Lewis said. “I think that the show spoke for itself.”
Carolina Crown finished above 90 points for the first time this season in fourth place overall. The South Carolina corps capitalized on a second-place finish in General Effect and second in Music Analysis to stay within four tenths of the Blue Devils.
“We’re hungry this season,” Carolina Crown drum major Sabur Mannsur said. “(This show) is going to keep getting better, and it’s going to keep getting stronger.”
5. Vanguard » 88.838
6. Phantom Regiment » 87.363
7. Blue Stars » 86.113
8. The Cavaliers » 85.225
Santa Clara Vanguard finished in fifth with a score of 88.838, adding more than two points to its score from Thursday in Denton, Texas, and slightly widening its gap over Phantom Regiment to 1.475 points. Vanguard’s percussion section continues to put up strong numbers, finishing third in the caption, just four-tenths behind the Bluecoats.
Phantom Regiment, in sixth, held a strong 1.25-point lead over the Blue Stars, who, along with The Cavaliers, continued to make strides toward pushing into the top half of the finalist pool.
The La Crosse, Wisconsin-based corps maintained its advantage over The Cavaliers by 0.888 points with an overall score of 86.113. The Blue Stars have been on a steady upward trajectory since their run of home-state competitions earlier this month, with drum major Joely Martin commending the group’s calmness under the pressure of a massive moment in the season.
“Our energy has been absolutely controlled and calm, cool and collected over the past few rehearsal days and this crowd and their energy pushed us over the edge for a great performance,” Martin said. “Taking it to Texas means a big deal for a lot of our members… We’ve got a ‘Team Texas’ of a few dozen here at Blue Stars, so lots of home shows for those people, but also a lot of people who travel a lot of miles to come see us.”
The Green Machine continued to roll in San Antonio on the strength of its percussion section, which finished fourth ahead of Phantom Regiment and the Blue Devils.
9. Colts » 82.413
10. Blue Knights » 82.400
11. Troopers » 82.150
After a heated competition in Killeen on Thursday night—where they were separated by just a tenth of a point—the Colts and Blue Knights picked up right where they left off. This time, the margin between the two became razor-thin at a mere 0.013 points. The Blue Knights’ nine-tenths advantage in the General Effect caption was offset by the Colts’ strengths in Visual and Music, putting the Iowa corps out front in ninth place at this juncture of the tour.
In 10th, the Blue Knights stayed ahead of the Troopers for the first time since August of 2022. It’s a competitive surge that Blue Knights drum major Kelsey Wolf credits back to the rehearsal field.
“We just brought the energy all day today, and we were really focusing on not changing the approach,” Wolf said. “(We were working on) bringing the stadium energy the whole day, and I think we really threw down.”
Troopers also kept things incredibly close on Saturday with strong scores across the board in Music. Their performance was highlighted by a ninth-place finish in Brass and a 10th-place finish in Percussion, helping the corps best the Blue Knights in the overall Music caption.
12. Madison Scouts » 80.425
13. Pacific Crest » 80.000
14. Spirit of Atlanta » 79.900
Saturday featured another hotly contested grouping that offers a glimpse into just how tight the race for a Top 12 finalist spot will be this summer.
The Madison Scouts claimed the Southwestern Championship’s 12th spot with an overall score of 80.425. They were bolstered by a standout performance in the General Effect caption, where they managed to outscore the 11th-place Troopers by 0.325 points. Finding themselves one spot ahead of their 2025 finish in San Antonio, the Scouts have established strong footing heading into the back half of the 2026 DCI Tour.
“So much preparation has gone into this show. We have an incredible team of staff, writers, designers, all supporting us so much,” Madison Scouts drum major Juliana Thint said. “We’re here for the legacy, we’re here to build on that legacy and to bring the Madison Scouts’ name back home.”
Just over four-tenths behind the Madison Scouts, Pacific Crest hit 80 points on the button for the first time this season in 13th place. The Southern California corps put up impressive numbers on Saturday, finishing 11th in overall Visual and 12th in General Effect. If Crest can feed that momentum, their very first time as a DCI World Championship finalist could be right on the horizon.
Spirit of Atlanta also kept things close for its own bid as a Top 12 finalist, just a tenth behind the Mandarins. Spirit fell just short of breaking the 80-point barrier for the first time this season, but showed impressive marks on the scoresheets, including a 13th-place finish overall in Music and a 10th-place finish in General Effect 1.
“I love how connected we are as a group and I just couldn’t imagine a better corps to be at right now,” Spirit of Atlanta drum major Chris Dowis said. “With how united we are, and it obviously shows up in the show, I mean we’re all just ecstatic to be here.”
15. Crossmen » 77.125
16. The Academy » 76.000
17. Music City » 75.725
18. Spartans » 72.850
19. Genesis » 71.875
20. Seattle Cascades » 71.550
In front of their hometown crowd, the Crossmen laid down “A Side/B Side” with some extra intensity. The San Antonio corps scored 77.125 overall with an especially impressive performance in the Brass caption, outpacing both Spirit of Atlanta and Pacific Crest by a tenth.
While dropping a handful of tenths from their Houston score, The Academy still managed to stay within striking distance of the Crossmen aided by a slim advantage in the Visual caption. The two corps have met head-to-head only twice this season, with both contests decided by less than a point.
In the first meeting of the two corps to date, Music City was also able to keep pace on The Academy, finishing just 0.275 points behind, while holding a nearly three-point advantage over the Spartans. Music City’s percussion section continues to be a strong weapon in the corps’ arsenal, outscoring The Academy’s line on Saturday.
In 18th place, the corps out of Nashua, New Hampshire, took a significant leap on Saturday. After finishing behind Genesis in Houston by a minuscule five-hundredths of a point the night prior — and fueled by the excitement of their very first performance under the roof of the Alamodome — the Spartans flipped the script on the Austin corps and stretched a lead to nearly a point.
“We were anticipating a good crowd, and I think the hard work that we’ve been putting in, it was a lot different than what we’ve done in the past,” Spartans drum major Emily Wehrle said. “This year the excitement of being in World Class, in the new chapter that Spartans have taken, that’s the overall excitement going into our performance today.”
Genesis held a lead on the Seattle Cascades — just over three tenths of a point — to round out the field in 19th and 20th places respectively. While the Cascades held slight advantages in the General Effect and Music captions, Genesis’ fourth tenths advantage in overall Visual made the difference.
1. Gold » 70.475
2. Zephyrus » 67.700
3. Arsenal » 64.375
In Open Class competition, Gold marched to its second-straight victory at the Alamodome after first performing in San Antonio in 2025. Building momentum during the early part of the 2026 DCI Tour in California, the San Diego corps swept all captions as they now set their eyes ahead to the Open Class World Championships this August in Dayton, Ohio.
Like Gold, Zephyrus also returned for its second year at the Alamodome, but this year competing as a newly-minted Open Class affiliate corps. Taking second place in all captions across the scoresheets, the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based corps improved its score more than three points since its last event in Denton, Texas on Thursday.
El Paso, Texas’ Arsenal also competed on Saturday for the first time as an Open Class affiliate finishing third. After several seasons of performances at the Alamodome in DCI’s SoundSport Class, corps members are excited about this next step in the organization’s evolution.
“Every year we keep on getting bigger and we keep rebuilding, just growing and growing,” Arsenal head drum major Lillah Litchford said. “This season has been the season where we’ve had the most people and most members and most (returning members) so it’s really amazing to see.”
Arsenal and Zephyrus will wrap up their inaugural Open Class campaigns after upcoming Texas events in Bedford and McKinney.
• Guardians » Gold Rating
• Sky Ryders » Gold Rating
The SoundSport lineup in the Alamodome featured two Open Class candidate corps, Sky Ryders and Guardians, with both earning Gold ratings.
After an 18-month hiatus from the activity, the Guardians returned to San Antonio and made a strong impression with their show, “Welcome to Texas.” The McKinney-based corps will conclude its 2026 comeback tour in front of a hometown crowd at DCI McKinney on July 20.
As for the Sky Ryders, a return to the major regional stage was long-overdue for an organization with a history stretching back decades. Since making their official return in 2024 within DCI’s SoundSport division, the Hutchinson, Kansas-based corps has made massive strides toward its goal of joining DCI’s Open Class.
The Southwestern Championship officially concluded the Sky Ryders’ third season since returning to the field, pointing toward a bright future ahead for the organization.
“It’s been amazing getting the organization up and running again,” said Sky Ryders executive director Dale Antoine. “We’ve had great people working to make this happen, and we’ve done it the right way so far. The kids have bought into it, and you can tell by the crowd reaction, they loved it.”
All of Saturday’s World Class corps will depart San Antonio for upcoming Lone Star State events. The DCI Texas Series presented by USBands concludes in Bedford (Sunday, July 19) and McKinney (Monday, July 20).
