7/25 - Southeast Championship

Carolina Crown - 91.500 Blue Devils - 91.475 The Cadets - 90.800 Bluecoats - 89.525 Santa Clara Vanguard - 89.075 Blue Knights - 86.275 Phantom Regiment - 84.175 Madison Scouts - 83.475 Boston Crusaders - 81.775 Blue Stars - 81.100 Crossmen - 80.775 Colts - 79.000 Troopers - 78.600 The Academy - 77.750 Spirit of Atlanta - 75.375 Oregon Crusaders - 73.850 Mandarins - 73.775 Pacific Crest - 73.600 Cascades - 69.000 Jersey Surf - 68.275 Pioneer - 64.500

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Southwind - 57.700 Heat Wave - 53.400

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Carolina Gold - 71.500 Atlanta CorpsVets - 68.900 Alliance - 63.400

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Carolina Crown - Perhaps, one of the biggest turnouts of the night was the moment Carolina Crown was deemed champion of Atlanta's championships. Throughout the season, we've seen Crown fluctuate between positions, trying to upkeep their performance value and to bring back the performance abilities that we witnessed in 2013. It was honestly never truly expected how they would jump so highly to their spot on the leaderboards upon that night. With only a .25 difference between them and Blue Devils, it surely highlights the competitiveness of the corps this season, especially considering that it was a day before in Murfreesboro that there was a small but noted gap in between Blue Devils and The Cadets. It's unclear at this moment as the season leads right up into the end of the season (and eventually back to Indianapolis) where Crown will stand on placement, however Crown has always been noted for their surprises they've given to judges, the audience, and avid fans alike. Many of the audience sat in awe and enthusiasm the moment the golden tarp had triumphantly flown across the corps before their signature Crown form had enveloped, so it's a clear idea that these next few competitions will surely keep the fans on their toes to see how much they'll clash between the other corps.

Blue Devils - With the innovation and standard of performance we've seen over the years with Blue Devils, it was highly anticipated how far could the corps push the season along even more this season. With each year, they progressively grow more and more and create some of the most complex yet idolized shows we've seen yet. With their show, "Ink", the audience can tend to feel a wave of nostalgia hit as their show explores the storybook-filled world of childhood, and unleashes another style that Blue Devils have given over time. Visually, their show is top notch and nearly perfect down to the needle point of their dots, however musically can improve. From seeing on the full recap, the corps were set as 5th in the Music - Analysis category. This season's show hasn't been as powerful musically over the years, but can surely improve. It's unknown however where they'll stand on finals, but realistically speaking, they'll guarantee to taking a medal at championships.

The Cadets - Powerfully packed and an innovative yet odd concept, "The Power of Ten" has set itself upon one of the most mind-proving shows in drum corps history, showing the simplicity and yet strength that the number ten withholds. We've seen over the years how they've built themselves up through George Hopkins' standards, and this year has truly been no exception. From the ballad taking place inside only apart ten yards, to having a French Horn feature (comprised of ten horns), The Cadets have truly extended their abilities out forward onto the field. Musically, they stand triumphantly over the others by a small amount of points, but still can improve much more as the season leads near championships. Percussion though is right under the nose of Blue Devils, and their brass score stands neatly between the power of .10 score differences of Carolina Crown and Blue Devils.

Bluecoats - No season is complete without the contributions that Bluecoats give us every season. Year after year, they've "kinetically" grown more and more and have pushed themselves incredibly hard to get to their position, Living up to the expectations they set from last year where for the first time in the history of Bluecoats had metaled 2nd place at Championship finals, they've pushed themselves further with another abstract yet incredible show. Visually, they and The Cadets are almost up to par with eachother, with a slight .10 difference (being Bluecoats having that extra .10), however still needs to catch up to Crown and then finally Blue Devils if they want to remain victorious at the visual category. The corps would have nearly broken 90 that night if they never had the time delay that affected them and brought down a slight penalty.

Santa Clara Vanguard - The first corps to break 80 this season, and one of the most jam-packed shows of the season, Santa Clara Vanguard never disappoints, and have always pushed the envelope further and further with their unique style they add to the flavor of drum corps. Throughout the season, fans have wondered if Vanguard would take a medal at finals this year, as they've improved so much and clashed between The Cadets for their spot (before falling down slightly behind). It's unclear where they might stand as their percussion have been critiqued harshly this season, with the scores not doing nearly enough justice. However, overall, the music scores between they and Bluecoats tied that night, with the percussion score given by C. Rothe adding to their advantage. They still have much to improve on, yet perhaps enough time for them to improve, in order to catch up and claim the medal they so deserve.

Blue Knights - The top five have always had a certain gap from the other corps, yet the Blue Knights stand as a focal point between the top five and the rest beneath at an 86.275. Throughout the season, we've seen the battle and competitiveness that they and Phantom Regiment have sparked between eachother from the very beginning, and now we see the triumphancy as they opened up a gap between them and Phantom with a slight point interval. However, away from the clashing of those two, Blue Knights have incredibly improved this season, making them one of the top corps this season. It was hardly believable to think that they would come this far and throw themselves over so many other corps, and are now approaching Santa Clara Vanguard (slowly rather, since of the gap that exists between them). Yet, we can expect a great amount of things from them as the season leads off into the end, and for future seasons.

Phantom Regiment - The Phantom Regiment captured the 7th position as they beat out the Madison Scouts. Phantom captured 7th in every caption, earning them a score of 84.175. City of Light is a great production and is doing well. The only thing holding the back is their percussion, in which they placed 10th. Phantom’s current rival, the Cavaliers, were not able to perform in Atlanta due to an illness sweeping through the corps. Would have Phantom placed higher than Cavaliers had they been there? We don’t know.

Madison Scouts - The Madison Scouts placed 8th in Atlanta with an 83.475. Their best caption is GE where they beat out Phantom Regiment and Blue Knights in a few of the categories. If the Madison Scouts are able to add a little bit more and clean up, they might surpass Phantom for 7th in GE and possibly 7th overall. The Scouts Visual program is strong for Madison, but there is a definite need for cleaning. They will get there though. Music is consistent for the Scouts as they took 8th across the board in this caption.

Boston Crusaders - Coming in at 9th place with an 81.775 was the Boston Crusaders. Boston’s show is really coming together, in the beginning of the season it looked as if they would not be making Finals. They are improving by leaps and bounds and will make Finals, but this does not mean that they can relax. Their biggest place to clean is GE, in which they took 10th in GE 1 & 2, but 9th overall. Color guard and Percussion, specifically their drumline, are by far the strongest caption for the Crusaders as they took 7th. Music is getting there but could come up short by Finals if they don’t step it up.

Blue Stars - Blue Stars made a lot of fans happy by jumping ahead of the Crossmen and taking 10th. This corps is kind of all over on the judging sheets, particularly in GE. They took 13th in GE 1 and 9th in GE 2, placing them in 11th overall for GE. Visually, they are performing well as they tied the Boston Crusaders for 9th in the Visual caption. Music is a strong caption, as they took 9th in Brass and 7th in percussion. Unfortunately, their Music Analysis is their downfall as the judges placed them in 15th. Overall, the Blue Stars have a good ensemble this season but they need to work on a few things to perform at the level that we know from them. They placed in 10th with an 81.100.

Crossmen - The Crossmen had a very solid performance as they were fairly consistent across the board. They took 9th and 11th in the two GE captions for 10th overall. The Visual and Music captions are strong as they took 11th in both. They will need to stay that way if they want to hold off the Colts and Troopers for the 12th placement at Finals. Crossmen took 11th with an 80.775.

Colts - The Colts are making gains as they edged out the Troopers for 12th place in Atlanta. GE and Visual are the strongest captions, while Music is their weakest. The Colts took 12th in GE overall, but 11th in GE 1. The Colts took 10th in Visual analysis, and 12th in Visual overall. The Colts need to improve their Music scores if they want to have a chance at making Finals. A 14th place in that caption will only harm them in the end. Still, they have a great chance but they have some cleaning to do. They finished in 12th with a 79.000.

Troppers - The Troopers were edged out of 12th by 0.4 points, a margin that can be overcome with a little bit of work. Their GE 1 score had them in 11th, but a GE 2 score on 13th placed them in 13th overall for GE, 0.2 behind Colts. Visually, they are performing consistently and they took 13th overall. The musical program for the Troopers is their strongest. They are within 0.3 of Crossmen for the 11th place. They have a great brassline and percussion section. They took 12th in Music. The Troopers finished in 13th with a 78.600.

Academy - The Academy is rebounding after last season by finishing in 14th place in Atlanta. GE is very consistent, but one judge placed them in 16th place. This little blip didn’t do much to impact the overall 14th place GE score. All three visual judges had them in 14th. The Academy’s Music caption was all over the place in terms of scores. Brass was in 14th, Music Analysis was in 10th, and the two percussion scores were 17th and 13th. Overall Music placing was 13th. Academy finished with a score of 77.750.

Spirit of Atlanta - Although Spirit of Atlanta’s overall placement didn’t change between San Antonio and Georgia, they have made strides especially in Music. Comparing to San Antonio, Spirit placed 16th place for Music Analysis. In Georgia, they found themselves in 11th place. Spirit also found themselves placing 17th in General Effect 1, Visual Proficiency, Music-Brass, and Music-Percussion. They found themselves placing 16th in Visual Analysis; 15th in General Effect 2, Color Guard, Overall Visual, and Overall Music.

Oregon Crusaders - The Oregon Crusaders have found themselves ahead of Mandarins and Pacific Crest. Something that was hard to see early in the season. With a 16th place finish, Oregon Crusaders’ highest caption was Percussion, in 13th place. Their lowest caption was General Effect 2 in 19th place.

Mandarins - Mandarins and Pacific Crest continue to go head to head throughout the season. Mandarins were able to place ahead of Pacific Crest in Music-Brass, Music-Analysis, and Music-Percussion. They also finished ahead of them overall by .175

Pacific Crest - Going off the above post, Pacific Crest were able to finish about Mandarins in General Effect, General Effect 2, Visual Analysis, Visual Proficiency, and Color Guard.

Cascades - Cascades continue to dog fight with Jersey Surf but passed them in Atlanta by less than a point. It continues to go back and forth and they continue to put up a good fight as the season continues.

Jersey Surf - Surf is sharing the love! Their 25th Anniversary continues with their show “Sun Surfing”. Although their show is connecting with audiences, it’s not really connecting with the judges. They remain less than a point behind Cascades and have made a lot of positive changes to their show that is starting to pay off already. I can’t wait to see what they do in Allentown this Saturday.

Pioneer - Pioneer is continuing to improve their show. Although they finished in last, they were able to beat Cascades in Color Guard.

Southwind - These guys have a lot of energy. For this point in the season, the GE and Visual score s are decent for competition, but if they want to make their name known in open class, especially the middle tier of competition, they need to bring up their music score in general. Show is solid, and I am excited to see them more, and the years to come.

Heat wave - HW had some trouble tonight in music and visual. Most of it is cleanable issues, but the book could have something to do with it as well. In my opinion they have just as solid of a show design as SW, but SW is much cleaner. Performance will play a huge role in placement as the season progresses.

Carolina Gold - They did great tonight, with a nice score of 71.500. Effect and Communication were by far the strongest captions, however visual and music were overall not far behind. They are on fire and are doing great. For this point in the season, exceptional, and they will only get better.

Atlanta CorpsVets - Good run as well, had solid numbers, but definitely musically oriented. They had a huge lead n music on the other two corps, but the deficit in other captions caused them to lower to 2nd place. At this point, it will be hard to make the other captions just as effective, and they are a tad lopsided. I have faith that they will make their show the best it can be.

Alliance - Alliance needs to just clean and improve in every category. As a package, they are quite consistent but the scores are low in all of them. Being over five points below ACV’s show most likely was a wakeup call that they need to improve. Great performance nonetheless, and will love to see some much needed improvements to their show design.