WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- For the third year in a row, and an astounding 13th time in 15 years, the Reading Buccaneers took home this season’s Drum Corps Associates World Championship title, topping the 10-corps all-age Open Class field by more than two full points.
In the ‘A’ class side of DCA Finals competition, Carolina Gold earned its second consecutive title and its third all-time, with a final score of 84.225.
Reading Buccaneers’ final tally of 98.225 marks its third straight season cracking 98 points and tops last year’s championship-winning result by a slim margin. The corps won all captions except color guard, which went to the event’s silver-medalist, Atlanta CV (96.150).
Saturday’s second-place finish marks the corps’ third year in a row earning a top-three spot, an achievement it had never earned prior to 2017.
Rounding out the medal-winners, Hawthorne Caballeros were one of 2019’s biggest movers in DCA’s ranks, jumping from sixth a year ago to third at this year’s Finals. The corps also improved its final score by more than three full points.
A noticeable drop off separated the top three from the corps in fourth, fifth, and sixth, all three of which were split by just seven tenths of a point. White Sabers (4th, 91.950) edged Bushwackers (5th, 91.625) and Fusion Core (6th, 91.250) for their best-ever finish since moving into DCA’s Open Class in 2015.
DCA Championship Retreat
Posted by Drum Corps Associates on Saturday, August 31, 2019
Saturday’s placements made it back-to-back years among the top six for both Bushwackers and Fusion Core.
Cincinnati Tradition (7th, 87.375) added a third-consecutive top-eight finish, all in its first three years as an Open Class competitor, and Hurricanes (8th, 84.150) moved up one position from 2018’s ninth-place finish.
Rounding out the Open Class standings were Southern Knights (9th, 76.713) and Sunrisers (10th, 74.750).
The weekend’s ‘A’ Class competition featured four corps, with Carolina Gold earning top marks by more than three full points. Skyliners earned second with a score of 80.825, and earned the ‘A’ Class caption award for percussion. The remaining captions went the way of Carolina Gold.
The last two spots went to Govenaires (3rd, 77.125) and Columbus Saints (4th, 68.350).
FREE players, a differently-abled drum corps from Old Bethpage, New York, also made its inaugural apperance at the DCA Championships. Several of the corps' members also competed in DCA's Individual & Ensemble competition.
Read more about FREE Players' trip to Williamsport