Competitive Edge: 7/13-7/19

High Scores

World Class: The Cadets (87.625) July 18, San Antonio, TX

Open Class: 7th Regiment (65.150) July 18, Manchester, NH

High Caption Scores

World Class:

Brass: The Cadets (17.7) July 17, Houston, TX
Percussion: The Cadets (17.7) July 15, Mustang, OK
Color Guard: Carolina Crown (17.5) July 17, Houston, TX and July 18, San Antonio, TX

Open Class:

Brass: Genesis (13.2) July 18, San Antonio, TX
Percussion: Genesis (13.5) July 15, Mustang, OK
Color Guard: Genesis (13.6) July 16, Delton, TX

Storylines to Watch

The Academy is among a tight group of corps looking to join the top 12 that will advance to the DCI Finals.

Cadets catch fire: After performing on July 5 in Clifton, New Jersey, the Cadets took nearly an entire week off for rehearsal and didn’t see the field for competition again until July 11. The time off served them well. Since then, they have won six of seven shows, including five in a row over the past week. The Allentown corps has been particularly strong on the scoresheets in music, sweeping the three musical captions at Saturday’s premier event in San Antonio.

Keeping pace: While the Cadets have, at least for now, dethroned last year’s World Champion Blue Devils, it certainly hasn’t been by a blowout. None of the Cadets’ wins over the Concord, California corps have been by a margin of more than four tenths of a point, and on Saturday, the Blue Devils took first in the overall visual caption. Other corps have hope of catching the Cadets as well: Carolina Crown continues to improve, and took first in color guard and a close second in brass in San Antonio. The Bluecoats, meanwhile, have already notched a win against the Cadets earlier this season, and it’s not a stretch to suggest they could repeat that feat.

Illinois incoming: Throughout most of the season, the Blue Knights have appeared headed toward a finish of at least sixth place or higher. As recently as Thursday night, the Denver corps had a lead of three points over its nearest competitors, the Cavaliers and Phantom Regiment. Both corps came screaming forward on Saturday, however, and the Cavaliers now sit less than a tenth of a point behind the Blue Knights, with Phantom Regiment close behind.

Tight races take over: Don’t think for a moment that the only good rivalries are at the top of the leaderboard. There are close races all over the scoresheets in what is turning out to be one of the most wild and unpredictable summer tours on record. Just over half a point separates the Boston Crusaders, Crossmen and Blue Stars, in what could be a vital fight to earn a spot among the top 12 that advance to the DCI World Championship Finals. The Troopers, Colts and Academy have shuffled places throughout the week, and in San Antonio, the Mandarins and Oregon Crusaders were as close as two corps could be: tied for 17^th place.

Jubal joins: Returning to the United States for the first time since celebrating its centennial in 2011, Jubal scored 53.500 in a separate International division in San Antonio. The Dutch corps will continue to tour the country over the next few weeks, with its next stop coming on Wednesday in St. Louis. Jubal isn’t the only intercontinental corps expected to take part in the 2015 tour: Gita Surosowan Banten from Serang City, Baten, Indonesia and Chien Kuo from Taipei City, Taiwan are set to join Jubal, and all three will make appearances at the DCI World Championships in August.

Dog days of Open Class: As the heat turned up this week, the recent frenzy of Open Class activity slowed down. It was a relatively quiet week in the Open Class division, except for Genesis. The Texas corps’ four appearances this week accounted for 30 percent of all Open Class performances, and they made them count. Their scores this week suggest that they may be in contention for a medal in Michigan City. They’ll have to surpass 7^th Regiment, however, who resumed its tour on Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire with the Open Class’ high score of the week.

This lull will be short lived, however, as these corps start their final push to the Open Class World Championship in Michigan City. An exciting series of Open Class events gets underway this week with competitions in St. Louis, Missouri (7/22), Sheffield, Pennsylvania (7/24), Dixon, Illinois (7/24), Hamilton, Ohio (7/25), and Oregon Wisconsin (7/25).

Stepping up to the plate: Several corps are experiencing a genesis of their own in the upcoming week, with two brand-new groups set to begin their 2015 tours. Southwind (7/21, Ocean Springs, MS) and Heat Wave (7/24, Opelika, AL) enter the fray for the first time ever, while Coastal Surge (7/24, Sheffield, PA) will also join the tour, meaning that every World and Open Class corps will have begun their tour by the end of the week.

Simulated Top 12: Based on averaging total scores over the past week, the top 12 corps at the DCI World Championship Finals will potentially be (pluses and minuses indicate change from last week): 1. The Cadets (+1) 2. Blue Devils (-1) 3. Bluecoats 4. Carolina Crown (+1) 5. Santa Clara Vanguard (-1) 6. Blue Knights 7. The Cavaliers 8. Phantom Regiment 9. Madison Scouts 10. Crossmen (+3) 11. Boston Crusaders (+1) 12. Blue Stars (-2)

The Troopers, Academy, and Colts had the next three highest average scores of the week.