Carolina Crown
The 2012 Drum Corps International Tour Monday, June 11 through Sunday, June 17

High scores of the week

World Class: Carolina Crown (71.30), June 17, Louisville, KY Open Class: Did not compete. High caption scores of the week by section World Class: Brass: Carolina Crown (15.0), June 17, Louisville, KY Percussion: The Cadets (14.8), June 17, Louisville, KY

The Cadets
Color Guard: The Cadets (14.5), June 16, Akron, OH Open Class: Did not compete. View all scores. Storylines to watch • Though there were only two events marking the opening weekend of the 2012 Drum Corps International Tour (Saturday, June 16 in Akron, OH and Sunday, June 17 in Louisville, KY), a few notable competitive storylines are already developing. • Potentially a trend that will emerge relating to the implementation of DCI's new judging system this summer, all of the corps performing Saturday in Akron finished with lower scores than they did in their debut performances of 2011. The average score from the first event of the season in 2012 (67.70) is more than 3 points lower than it was in 2011 (70.76). • The Cadets were the only corps to score above 70 points Saturday in Akron. Prior to 2012, the last time each of this past weekend's performing corps scored below 70 points on opening day:

Phantom Regiment
Blue Stars: June 18, 2011 in Saginaw, TX (64.75) Bluecoats: June 18, 2011 in Saginaw, TX (68.90) Phantom Regiment: June 18, 2011 in Saginaw, TX (69.95) Carolina Crown: June 23, 2003 in Sevierville, TN (59.90) The Cavaliers: June 18, 1999 in Oswego, IL (69.10) The Cadets: June 14, 1997 in Toledo, OH (66.70) • Not since the 2008 World Championship Finals has Phantom Regiment finished at an event with a placement higher than either the Cavaliers or Carolina Crown. Regiment accomplished that Saturday scoring 0.65 above Crown and 1.75 above the Cavaliers. • The Cavaliers, who took 5th at Saturday's season-opening event in Akron, have finished lower than third place in their first contest of the season only four times since DCI's founding in 1972. Over those 40 years, the corps has never finished lower than fifth in its first show, which last happened on June 14, 1974 in Milwaukee. That day the Green Machine scored behind the Phantom Regiment, Kilties, Blue Stars and Madison Scouts. The Cavaliers would end the summer of '74 in eighth place at the DCI World Championships in Ithaca, N.Y. • Carrying the momentum of their 2011 successes into the first event of 2012, last season's Jim Ott Best Brass Performance caption award winners Carolina Crown took first place in brass, the Cavaliers, who were 2011 Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance caption winners took first in percussion, and the Cadets who were 2011 Donald Angelica Best General Effect award winners took first in the overall GE caption on Saturday.

The Cavaliers
• What a difference a day makes: Carolina Crown, who finished third in Akron, jumped more than 2.5 points between Saturday and Sunday to win in Louisville. Crown's Louisville score was a full point ahead of the Cadets, 2.85 ahead of the third-place Bluecoats and 4.6 ahead of the Cavaliers. This marks the largest margin of victory Crown has ever held over the Cavaliers, which was previously 4.1 points achieved on June 20, 2010 in Ft. Mill, S.C. • As the 2012 Drum Corps International Tour marches into its first full week of competition, corps that will be making their first performances of the season include: The Academy (June 19, Albuquerque, NM), Blue Knights (June 19, Albuquerque, NM), Boston Crusaders (June 22, Clovis, CA), Blue Devils (June 22, Clovis, CA), Blue Devils B (June 22, Clovis, CA), Blue Devils C (June 22, Clovis, CA), Colt Cadets (June 22, Madison, WI), Crossmen (June 20, Martin, TN), Glassmen (June 20, Battle Creek, MI), Legends (June 20, Battle Creek, MI), Madison Scouts (June 22, Madison, WI), Mandarins (June 22, Clovis, CA), Pacific Crest (June 22, Clovis, CA), Pioneer (June 22, Madison, WI), Racine Scouts (June 22, Madison, WI), Santa Clara Vanguard (June 19, Albuquerque, NM), Spirit of Atlanta (June 20, Martin, TN), Troopers (June 20, Battle Creek, MI), Vanguard Cadets (June 22, Clovis, CA)

Blue Stars
This week's upcoming events Monday, June 18 No events scheduled. Tuesday, June 19 Albuquerque, NM Wednesday, June 20 Battle Creek, MI Mesa, AZ Martin, TN Thursday, June 21 Dothan, AL

Bluecoats
Friday, June 22 Madison, WI Clovis, CA Saturday, June 23 Woodbury, MN Orlando, FL Stanford, CA Sunday, June 24 Sacramento, CA Sioux Falls, SD View the complete 2012 DCI Tour schedule.