Recap Roundup: DCI Southeastern Championship (Atlanta)

On Saturday, July 25, almost all World Class corps came together for the second time this season on the same day, competing at the DCI Southeastern Championship in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. Only the Cavaliers were missing, due to an illness that swept through the corps. The top 11 corps all broke 80 points and the top three corps passed 90 points.

As with all major events, there were two judges for General Effect 1, General Effect 2, and Percussion, with scores from each of those pairs of judges averaged together for the total caption score. The scores of the two Effect captions are counted for full value, but each of the scores of the three Visual captions (Visual Proficiency, Visual Analysis and Color Guard) and three Music captions (Brass, Music Analysis and Percussion) are first divided in half, with each of those half scores added together for the Total Visual and Total Music scores.

World Class

View complete World Class scoring recap from Atlanta.

Carolina Crown (1^st-91.500) increased its score 5.30 points from the DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio one week earlier, the largest jump among the top 20 corps in Atlanta. This is compared to Blue Devils’ increase of 4.175 and Cadets’ gain of 3.175, allowing the corps to surge from 3^rd to 1^st place. The corps was 1^st in GE 2, Color Guard, and Brass, 2^nd in GE 1, Visual Proficiency, and Music Analysis, 4^th in Visual Analysis, and 5^th in Percussion. Crown outscored BD by just 0.10 in total GE, 0.05 down in GE 1 and 0.25 up in GE 2. That 0.10 gain was offset by a 0.10 loss to BD in total Visual.

Crown’s 0.20 lead in Brass over BD was complemented by the corps’ 0.50 advantage in Music Analysis, in which BD placed 5^th. Those two captions were able to offset the corps’ large 0.65 deficit to BD in Percussion, where Crown placed 5^th to BD’s 1^st place, resulting in a 0.025 advantage in total Music. (Remember that all but the GE captions are divided in half before being added to the final score.) That microscopic 0.025, as minor as it was, happened to be the same spread by which the corps beat the Blue Devils for the title.

Blue Devils (2^nd-91.475) was 1^st in GE 1, Visual Proficiency, and Percussion, 2^nd in GE 2, Visual Analysis, and Color Guard, 3^rd in Brass and 5^th in Music Analysis. The corps’ 0.65 lead over the Cadets was mostly due to a 0.55 lead in GE, 0.4 in GE 1 and 0.15 in GE 2. (Those are the two captions that don’t get divided in half.) That GE spread was complemented by a 0.45 lead in Visual, due to beating Cadets in all three Visual captions, including a 0.50 lead in Visual Proficiency. BD barely won Percussion, scoring 0.05 over the Cadets, but was 0.10 down in Brass and 0.60 down in Music Analysis, resulting in a 0.325 deficit to Cadets in total Music. (The corps took 3^rd in Percussion in San Antonio.) The advantages over Cadets in GE and Visual were too much for the Allentown corps to overcome.

The Cadets (3^rd-90.800) had the smallest jump in scores among the top 12 corps in Atlanta. The corps shined in the Music captions, taking 1^st in Music Analysis and 2^nd in Brass and Percussion. After winning both GE captions in San Antonio, the corps took 3^rd in both captions in Atlanta, finishing 0.65 down in total GE. Cadets also took 3^rd in Visual Analysis, but 4^th in Visual Proficiency and Color Guard. The corps stayed ahead of Bluecoats by 0.55 in total GE, mostly due to a 0.65 lead in GE 1. A similar lead of 0.525 was achieved over Bluecoats in total Music, mostly due to a 0.60 lead in Brass. Add everything together and Cadets were 0.875 above Bluecoats before Bluecoats’ 0.4 penalty, and 1.275 above after factoring in that penalty.

Bluecoats (4^th-89.525) improved 3.90 from San Antonio. Without the 0.40 timing penalty assessed for the corps starting late due to electronics issues, the corps would have improved 4.30 since San Antonio; more than BD, Cadets, or SCV. The corps took 1^st in Visual Analysis, 3^rd in Music Analysis and Visual Proficiency, 4^th in GE 1, GE 2, and Percussion, and 5^th in Color Guard and Brass. The corps’ 0.85 lead over SCV (prior to the penalty) was mostly due to a 0.55 spread in total GE, 0.50 of that in GE 2. Another 0.30 gain was achieved in total Visual. Total Visual tied SCV for 4^th place, with SCV placing one position higher in both Brass and Percussion.

Santa Clara Vanguard (5^th-89.075) increased 4.25 in score over the DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio. 3^rd-place finishes in Visual Proficiency and Percussion were muted by 4^th place results in Brass and Music Analysis, and 5^th in GE 1, GE 2, Visual Proficiency, and Visual Analysis. Despite finishing in 5^th overall, SCV was only 2.425 out of 1^st place. SCV was 0.80 down to Bluecoats in San Antonio and only 0.225 down in Atlanta, so they have gained ground on 4^th place. If SCV can gain ground in GE, there could be a position change before the end of the season. The corps’ 2.80 spread over Blue Knights in Atlanta was only 0.125 less than in San Antonio, so the numbers thus far don’t indicate much danger for SCV slipping in position. 2.10 of that spread is due to identical 1.05 leads over BK in both total GE and total Music, with a 0.70 lead in total Visual thrown in for good measure.

Blue Knights (6^th-86.275) improved 4.375 points from San Antonio, more than any top-six corps except Carolina Crown. The corps was 6^th in every caption except for 7^th in GE 2, in which BK scored 0.85 under SCV. (This was only a 0.05 change from San Antonio.) In San Antonio, BK scored only 0.075 above Cavaliers, so it’s impossible to know where the momentum lies among their previously closest competitor. BK placed above Phantom Regiment in every caption except for GE 2, and in that caption, they were only 0.05 down.

Phantom Regiment (7th, 85.175) gained 4.20 points over a week earlier, taking 6^th in GE 2, 7^th in Visual Proficiency, Visual Analysis, Brass, and Music Analysis, 8^th in GE 1, and 10^th in Percussion. Total GE was 0.20 over Madison Scouts, total Visual 0.25 above, and total Music 0.25 above. The corps’ overall spread of 1.775 over the Scouts in San Antonio shrunk by more than half to 0.70 in Atlanta.

Madison Scouts (8th, 83.475) improved 4.275 points upon its score from San Antonio. The corps placed 7^th in GE 1, 10^th in Color Guard, and 8^th in the remaining six captions. The corps widened its overall spread over Boston Crusaders from 0.225 to 1.70, maintaining leads in all captions except for Color Guard.

Boston Crusaders (9th, 81.775) gained 4.05 points over the previous weekend, finishing 7^th in Color Guard, 9^th in Music Analysis and Percussion, 10^th in GE 1, GE 2, Visual Proficiency, and Brass, and 11^th in Visual Analysis. The corps topped Blue Stars by 0.675. In San Antonio, Crusaders topped Blue Stars by 2.05, when Crossmen placed between the two corps. Though Boston lost to Blue Stars by mostly minor spreads in GE 2, Visual Analysis, Brass, and Percussion, larger spreads in the other captions kept the Crusaders atop.

Blue Stars (10^th-81.100) passed up Crossmen’s San Antonio placement by adding 3.95 over the previous week, compared to Crossmen’s 3.35, allowing the corps to move up from 12th. (The corps would have still moved up had the Cavaliers performed with a healthy corps, but likely would have finished in 11th.) The corps placed 7^th in Percussion, 9^th in GE 2, Visual Analysis, Color Guard, and Brass, 11^th in Visual Proficiency, 13^th in GE 1, and 15^th in Music Analysis. (That last placement was down from 9^th in San Antonio, dropping 0.20 in the caption in the process. Had the Cavaliers performed, the slip likely would have been from 9^th to 16^th.)

Crossmen (11^th-80.775) had the second smallest jump in scores among the top 12 corps in Atlanta. The corps took 9^th in GE 1 and Music Proficiency, 11^th in GE 2, Color Guard, Brass, and Percussion, 12^th in Visual Analysis, and 13^th in Music Analysis. The corps topped Blue Stars in three captions and Colts in six captions, leading Colts by 1.775 due to a 0.80 spread in total GE, 0.45 in total Visual, and a 0.525 lead in total Music.

Colts (12^th, 79.000) added 3.775 to the corps’ score from San Antonio, the third smallest jump among the top 12 corps in Atlanta. Still, that allowed Colts to pass up Troopers. The corps was 10^th in Visual Analysis, 11^th in GE 1, 12^th in GE 2, Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, Brass, and Percussion, and 13^th in Brass. After being down 1.05 to Troopers in total GE in San Antonio, Colts were 0.20 up in total GE in Atlanta, a rather dramatic turn of events.

Troopers (13^th, 78.600) slipped beneath Colts by adding only 2.325 points to the corps’ score from San Antonio, the smallest jump among all World Class corps. The corps took 11^th in GE 1, 12^th in Brass and Percussion, 13^th in GE 2 and all three Visual captions, and 14^th in Music Analysis. The corps’ 0.85 lead over the Academy shrunk from 2.20 in San Antonio, even though Music Analysis is the only caption in which the corps didn’t outscore Academy. (In San Antonio, the corps was behind the Academy in Visual Proficiency and Color Guard.)

The Academy (14^th-77.750) added 3.425 points to its San Antonio score, placing 10^th in Music Analysis, 13^th in GE 1 and Percussion, and 14^th in the other five captions. The corps’ 2.325 spread over Spirit of Atlanta was only 0.15 less than in Atlanta, and was due to a 0.90 advantage in total GE, a 0.95 gain in total Visual, and a 0.525 lead in total Music.

Spirit of Atlanta (15^th-75.375) added 3.575 to its score and placed 11^th in Music Analysis, 15^th in GE 2 and Color Guard, 16^th in Visual Analysis, and 17^th in the remaining four captions. A 1.15 advantage in total GE was most of the reason the corps scored 1.525 above Oregon Crusaders.

Oregon Crusaders (16^th-73.850) added 4.375 to its score, placing 13^th in Percussion, 15^th in Brass, 16^th in GE 1, Visual Proficiency, Color Guard, and Music Analysis, 18^th in Visual Analysis, and 19^th in GE 2. The corps tied Mandarins in San Antonio, and was only 0.075 ahead in Atlanta, the exact spread as the difference between each of the gains the two corps enjoyed since San Antonio.

Mandarins (17^th-73.775) added 4.30 to its score, 0.075 less than what Oregon Crusaders added, and, as we read above, the reason the corps slipped 0.075 under Oregon in Atlanta. A 15^th-place finish in Visual Analysis was followed by 16^th place in Brass and Percussion, 17^th in GE 2 and Music Analysis, and 18^th in GE 1, Visual Proficiency, and Color Guard. The corps scored only 0.175 above Pacific Crest due to a 0.725 advantage in total Music, countering smaller spreads in the losses to PC in total GE and total Visual.

Pacific Crest (18th, 73.600) scored 6.15 higher than the corps did in San Antonio, the second largest gain among all World Class corps. Despite that, PC didn’t pass up any corps, but did close the spread between themselves and Mandarins from 4.35 to a scant 0.115. The corps placed 15^th in GE 1 and Visual Proficiency, 16^th in GE 2, 17^th in Visual Analysis and Color Guard, and 18^th in all three Music captions. The corps scored 4.60 higher than Cascades, so the only way PC is likely to change positions is by moving upward.

Cascades (19th, 69.00) added 4.80 to its score, placing 18^th in GE 2, 20^th in GE 1, 21^st in Color Guard, and 19^th in the remaining five captions.

Jersey Surf (20th-68.275) increased its score from San Antonio by 4.725, placing 19^th in GE 1 and Color Guard, 20^th in GE 2, and 20^th in the remaining five captions.

Pioneer (21^st-64.500) improved its score by 6.725, the largest point gain since San Antonio among all World Class corps. The corps placed 20^th in all three Visual captions and 21^st in the remaining five captions.

Open Class

View complete Open Class scoring recap from Atlanta.

Southwind (1^st-57.700) took 1st in every caption and every sub-caption.

Heat Wave (2^nd-53.400) took 2^nd in every caption and sub-caption.

All-Age Class

The All Age Class uses DCA sheets, which have different captions than DCI judging sheets. There are also captions for Visual Communication and Music Communication, as well as Music Ensemble. There is no Visual Proficiency or Visual Analysis, nor is there a Music Analysis caption.

View complete All-Age Class scoring recap from Atlanta.

Carolina Gold (1^st-71.500) took 1^st in six of the nine captions; Visual Effect, Music Effect, both Communication captions, and both Visual captions. The corps was 2^nd in Music Ensemble and Percussion and 3^rd in Brass.

Atlanta CV (2^nd-68.900) was 1^st in all three Music captions 2^nd in both Effect captions and both Visual Captions, and 3^rd in both Communication captions.

Alliance (3^rd-63.400) placed 2^nd in both Communication captions and Brass, and 3^rd in the remaining six captions.