Competitive Edge: July 8-14

Overall Rankings

Based on average of all scores earned from July 8-14

1. Bluecoats » 86.900

2. Santa Clara Vanguard » 86.400

3. Boston Crusaders » 85.483 » +2

4. Blue Devils » 85.333 » -1

5. Carolina Crown » 84.150

6. The Cavaliers » 83.600

7. Blue Stars » 80.360 » +1

8. The Cadets » 79.400 » +1

9. Blue Knights » 78.817 » +2

10. Mandarins » 78.213

11. Crossmen » 78.150 » -2

12. Phantom Regiment » 77.850

~~~

13. Spirit of Atlanta » 75.880

14. Colts » 74.540

15. The Academy » 73.388

16. Madison Scouts » 71.917

17. Blue Devils B » 70.700 » +4

18. Pacific Crest » 70.317

19. Troopers » 69.888 » -2

20. Music City » 69.025 » -1

21. Vanguard Cadets » 68.725 » +2

22. Jersey Surf » 67.138 » -2

23. Gold » 66.825

24. Legends » 66.175 » -1

25. Genesis » 63.413 » -3

~~~

26. Golden Empire » 62.325

27. Vessel » 60.850

28. Louisiana Stars » 60.800

29. Seattle Cascades » 60.483 » -3

30. Southwind » 60.410

31. River City Rhythm » 59.683 » -2

32. Guardians » 58.100

33. The Battalion » 58.000 » -5

34. Shadow » 57.800

35. Columbians » 55.650 » -5

36. Colt Cadets » 53.617 » -5

37. Impulse » 52.275

38. Heat Wave » 51.190

39. Blue Devils C » 49.600 » -5

40. Incognito » 49.250

Did Not Compete » 7th Regiment, Encorps, Les Stentors, Raiders, Spartans, Watchmen

Completed 2019 Tours » Columbians

Top Caption Scores

General Effect

World Class: Santa Clara Vanguard (35.300), Bluecoats (35.300), Boston Crusaders (34.600)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (29.100), Vanguard Cadets (28.400), Gold (27.500)

Visual

World Class: Bluecoats (26.400), Blue Devils (26.250), Santa Clara Vanguard (26.100)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (20.050), Legends (19.800), Vanguard Cadets (19.500)

Music

World Class: Bluecoats (26.400), Boston Crusaders (26.000), Santa Clara Vanguard (25.800)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (21.300), Vanguard Cadets (20.650), Gold (20.350)

Brass

World Class: Bluecoats (17.700), Boston Crusaders (17.500), Santa Clara Vanguard (17.300)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (14.400), Vanguard Cadets (14.200), Gold (13.800)

Percussion

World Class: Bluecoats (17.500), Santa Clara Vanguard (17.300), Blue Devils (17.100)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (14.500), Vanguard Cadets (14.000), Gold (13.800)

Color Guard

World Class: Bluecoats (17.000), Santa Clara Vanguard (16.800), Boston Crusaders (16.500)
Open Class: Blue Devils B (14.200), Vanguard Cadets (13.900), Gold (13.400)

Carolina Crown

What to Watch For

Clarity on its way: It's been pretty difficult to get a clear picture of what things look like at the top of the charts, largely because the corps that appear to be vying for those spots have yet to all meet in one place. Tuesday in Broken Arrow, though, nine of 2018's top 11 will face off at one venue for the first time this season, which should answer plenty of the competitive questions that have been littered throughout the early portion of this season. Will the Bluecoats — who've won all four of their meetings againt Santa Clara Vanguard by an average of about 0.75 points — stay undefeated once they get a shot at the Blue Devils? How will Boston Crusaders' impressive early scores carry over into competition with all of their fellow top-five contenders? Can Carolina Crown push its way back into the top three? All of these musings and more will have resounding answers come Tuesday night.

Crown surges back ahead: July 5 in Lexington, South Carolina, saw Boston Crusaders top Carolina Crown outright head-to-head for the first time since 2006. After more than a week waiting to avenge the slim defeat, the Fort Mill corps jumped back above its opponent from Boston Saturday in Memphis, using small leads in all three major captions to earn an advantage of 0.85 points. In the process. Crown finished just eight tenths of a point behind Santa Clara Vanguard — and nearly defeated the defending champions in visual — marking the closest the two have been since 2017. Both Crown and Boston finished noticeably close to SCV; their deficits at the end of the 2018 season were greater than three points apiece, but both corps scored within two points of Vanguard in Memphis.

Battalion continues a quiet rise: Competitively speaking, The Battalion has arguably been one of the "best-kept secrets" in drum corps since its inception in 2016. The only corps in the state of Utah, the corps has continued to compete on Mountain- and Pacific-time zone scale over the past four years, but has, each season, made remarkable strides. That continues to be the case in 2019. In each of its first three seasons, The Battalion added more than eight points to its final score, culminating in last year's 67.300 at season's end. It's yet to be seen how the corps' 2019 run will finish up, but with more than a week left of its tour, another new record score and a first-ever shot at 70 points certainly aren't outside the realm of possibility. While The Battalion hasn't received a result since July 10 in Ogden, Utah, due to weather conditions at its recent Denver event, the corps' scores are on par with its uber-successful 2018 campaign. The chance to measure up against the likes of Blue Devils B, Vanguard Cadets and Gold later this week and into next will be prime opportunities for the Salt Lake City corps.

Blue Knights reaching new landmarks: The Blue Knights haven't been involved in many of the 2019 season's early competitive headlines, largely because they've yet to meet up with several of the corps with whom they've most closely competed in recent years. That said, with an 80.200 at Wednesday's Ogden, Utah event, the corps crossed 80 points five days earlier than it did in 2018, six days earlier than it did in 2017, and more than a full week earlier than it did in 2016. The last time the corps scored an 80-or-better this early in the season, it earned sixth place overall in 2015, marking its all-time best finish.

Music City ahead of schedule: Speaking of corps that have reached milestones at remarkably early points of the season, Music City is no exception. The Nashville corps, with a score of 70.000 in Memphis, reached the 70-point mark a full week earlier than it did a year ago. Seeing as 2018's 21st-place finish was undoubtedly the corps' strongest competitive showing to date since its founding in 2009, to be a week ahead of its curve in terms of scoring milestones is definitely worth noting.

Mandarins in the mix: The Sacramento corps made its way to the midwest a bit earlier than several of its west coast brethren, competing at four events in Iowa and Illinois this week. As a result, Mandarins had the opportunity to compete with corps like Crossmen, Blue Stars and Phantom Regiment, all of which finished in the corps' general vicinity at the end of last year. Both Crossmen and Blue Stars got the better of last year's 10th-place finisher this week, but Mandarins held strong ahead of Phantom Regiment, most recently by nearly two points Sunday in Belleville. It'll be interesting to see Mandarins and Crossmen judged head-to-head this week; after never defeating Mandarins in 2018, the San Antonio corps held a lead of 1.7 points at the two competitors' only meeting, Tuesday in Sioux City.

Open Class intrigue down south: Louisiana Stars and Southwind certainly see a lot of each other early on each season, 2019 included. This year, the two have already met five times, all this week. While four of those matchups have gone the way of the Lousiaina corps, recent results have carried notable caption trends. Sunday in Georgia, while the two were separated by an overall gap of 1.05, 0.9 points' worth of that deficit came specifically in the music caption. Outside of the music caption, Southwind narrowly missed Louisiana Stars across the board.

California Open Class contenders surge: The fact that they won't be attending this year's DCI World Championships certainly isn't stopping Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets from posting very strong numbers out west; both passed 70 points this weekend for the first time, about a week earlier than either did in 2018. Gold has also continued to build upon its breakout 2018 season; the corps' deficit of 2.8 points behind Vanguard Cadets — earned Saturday in Pittsburg, California — is the closest the two have ever been, and is more than two full points closer than they were, on average, last season.

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