DEKALB, Illinois – While the rest of DCI’s top five corps headed southeast following last week’s Texas Series, Santa Clara Vanguard forged a quiet, winning path through the Midwest.
After crossing the 90-point threshold at DCI St. Louis on Tuesday and adding two more impressive victories in Indiana and Wisconsin this week, the Midwestern Championship played host to a motivated Vanguard ensemble pushing ahead with incredible confidence.
“This show is so fun, and the members have felt that since day one of spring training,” Santa Clara Vanguard drum major Megan Conlan said. “The more the season goes on, we get to talk about the show more, talk about the emotional intent with our design team, with our instructional staff, and I think us really focusing on that these last few weeks has upped the game of everyone.”
On Saturday, this momentum took the corps to a 91.950 overall score, as the corps looks to catch the likes of Carolina Crown, Boston Crusaders and the Blue Devils who have been in an incredibly tight pack separated by mere tenths across recent events in Tennessee and Atlanta.
READ: Bluecoats hold strong in Middle Tennessee with second place all tied up
WORLD CLASS
1. Santa Clara Vanguard » 91.950
2. Phantom Regiment » 89.500
3. The Cavaliers » 87.725
At Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Stadium, Vanguard swept the scoresheets in their fourth-straight event, with the General Effect caption accounting for a sizable chunk of the corps’ lead over the field, finishing 1.400 over the nearest competition in the caption.
“The energy has been so high with our drum corps for the past few days,” Conlan said. “We’ve been working so hard, and every day the consistency and hype just keep getting higher. I really feel like all the work from every section showed up tonight, which is all you can ask for.”
While Phantom Regiment maintained a comfortable edge over The Cavaliers in DeKalb, the Green Machine continues to work at chipping away at the gap between the Midwestern rivals. After trailing Regiment by nearly four points in early July, The Cavaliers closed to within 0.6 on Friday in Madison before Phantom expanded the margin to 1.775 in DeKalb.
Despite the setback on the scoresheets, Cavaliers drum major Max Schaeffer sees their midseason growth as a direct reflection of the corps’ push for late-season refinement.
“Energy,” Schaeffer said. “That was our big focus the past few days. For us, it’s been a lot about taking a younger group and showing them that they have more to give than they think.”
Phantom Regiment swept the overall Music, Visual and General Effect captions, but The Cavaliers corps fought back in the subcaptions — holding a three tenths advantage in Percussion.
4. Pacific Crest » 83.200
5. Madison Scouts » 83.000
Arguably, one could say that the budding rivalry between the Madison Scouts and Pacific Crest burns hotter than the two Illinois corps ahead of them. Zooming out to the larger DCI standings, the race for 12th place and a coveted spot in the World Championship Finals competition has recently been between the Scouts and Crest, with Spirit of Atlanta also in the mix.
READ: Inside the razor-thin race at the Top 12 bubble
Pacific Crest has been on a surge since leaving California in early July, first signaling its momentum by climbing to 13th in San Antonio and closing within 0.425 points of the 12th-place Madison Scouts.
Less than a week later on the Scouts’ home turf in Wisconsin, Pacific Crest jumped ahead by 0.65. While the battle for finalist positioning remains anyone’s game, the California corps backed up that breakthrough in DeKalb, taking fourth place and holding a slim two tenths lead over Madison in a much tighter contest than the night before.
Pacific Crest drum major Julia Framan pointed to the corps’ work ethic and attention to detail as the driving force behind their push toward a first-ever World Championship Finals berth.
“Everyone’s really been looking forward to this,” Framan said. “Each day we get to come out, do a little bit more after rehearsal, and really push to the max to see how many small things we can fix. I think we’ve really found ourselves. We faced a lot of challenges, but this group — especially compared to any group I’ve ever worked with — has been able to push through, and that’s really built our confidence.”
Pacific Crest held slight advantages in overall Visual and General Effect on Saturday night, with the Scouts prevailing in the Music caption by a margin of just 0.05.
6. Seattle Cascades » 75.025
7. Genesis » 74.725
One of the tightest rivalries developing on this year’s tour took center stage in DeKalb between the Seattle Cascades and Genesis. The two corps entered the Midwestern Championship having traded leads at every single meeting since first going head-to-head at the Alamodome.
In San Antonio, Genesis held the widest gap of the stretch at just 0.325 points. Cascades answered on Wednesday in Evansville, Indiana to take a tenth-of-a-point lead, only for Genesis to flip the script two nights later by a razor-thin 0.05.
Saturday night in DeKalb proved this matchup is still a toss-up. The two corps finished just .300 apart, with Seattle holding the upper hand this time around.
“Everything has been lining up perfectly. Every single time we get on that field, we’re changing things, so every show there is something different, and everything is just coming into place,” Seattle Cascades drum major Zoe Arambul said.
Arambul also highlighted the performers’ relentless hunger to push further as the season progresses.
“They are just so punctual about everything that they do,” Arambul added. “Every time they get out there and the staff tells us it’s good, the members are like, ‘No, it’s not.’ They know that there are always things to fix.”
OPEN CLASS
1. River City Rhythm » 70.650
2. Columbians » 69.725
3. Colt Cadets » 66.750
DeKalb’s Open Class lineup picked up right where it left off following earlier-in-the-week action in Minnesota. River City Rhythm repeated its victory from Champlin’s March On! event, surging past the 70-point mark for the first time this season with a 70.650. The Minnesota corps swept overall Music, Visual and General Effect to hold the top spot.
“I truly could tell that everybody knew that the stadium was huge and there was this huge crowd, and I think it really made everyone just jump to the next level in this performance,” River City Rhythm drum major Carter Grupe said. “It feels great to be able to travel and go to these new places, new environments all over the country. It’s an honor to be able to perform in another stadium like this, and to be able to be an impact on someone else’s experience in drum corps.”
Continuing to keep the pressure on, the Columbians also inched closer to the 70-point threshold while earning subcaption wins over River City Rhythm in Color Guard and Brass, building on the momentum they generated earlier in the week by topping RCR in Visual Analysis in Champlin.
The Colt Cadets rounded out the Open Class field, making notable strides at Huskie Stadium. The Iowa corps posted a 66.750, marking a 1.15 improvement over Friday night’s score in Madison and a .55 improvement year-over-year at the DeKalb show.
Notably, Colt Cadets continued to make noise in the subcaptions, taking second in Color Guard over River City Rhythm and second in Visual Proficiency over the Columbians.
ALL-AGE CLASS
1. Govenaires » 79.250
2. Northern Lights » 73.825
The All-Age Class cohort took the field in DeKalb coming from opposite ends of the schedule, but both Govenaires and Northern Lights delivered standout performances.
Fresh off a 77.300 in Minnesota just three days prior, the St. Peter corps continued its late-season push toward the 80-point threshold, sweeping captions across the scoresheets.
“Just the energy of it all, I just couldn’t stop myself from going big,” Govenaires drum major Jeme Richards said. “We often get much love from the audience wherever we go, but it’s always really fun to go farther away from home and see a bigger audience and still get that same amount of love.”
Northern Lights faced a very different ramp-up, entering the weekend following a 15-day break since their last competition in Lisle, Illinois. The Michigan corps maintained composure after the break with a score of 73.825 at Northern Illinois University.
Kicking off the evening in DCI’s SoundSport Class, The ConneXion took the field for the final performance of their inaugural season. The Milwaukee-based ensemble earned a Silver rating to wrap up their debut summer, building a strong foundation as they look ahead to 2027.
Following the action in DeKalb, the tour now turns its attention east. A majority of Saturday night’s World Class lineup will remain in the Midwest for upcoming stops in Ohio, while Pacific Crest and Genesis begin their trek directly toward the East Coast.
With only a few competitive opportunities remaining before the DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown, every night on the field will prove critical as corps make their final push toward the DCI World Championships in Indy.
