Eye-opener: Crusaders, Regiment create competitive intrigue in Murfreesboro

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — A pair of head-turning scoring upsets highlighted a competitively-chaotic night at The Masters of the Summer Music Games presented by DeMoulin Bros. & Co.

The annual Murfreesboro, Tennessee showdown — which featured major competitive movements by Boston Crusaders and Phantom Regiment, as well as another impressively-victorious showing for Bluecoats — serves as a key precursor to headline events this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

View scores from the Masters of the Summer Music Games pres. by DeMoulin Bros. & Co.

Boston Makes History

1. Bluecoats » 94.450
2. Boston Crusaders » 93.350
3. Blue Devils » 92.750

For the first time in DCI’s more-than-50 year history, the Boston Crusaders outscored the Blue Devils, taking second place by a strong margin of 0.6 points. 

While the two tied in total music, the Crusaders led Blue Devils in total visual, and found a significant advantage in general effect, which saw the two corps separated by a half a point. While Blue Devils finished ahead of the New England corps in visual analysis, visual proficiency and brass, Boston topped the overall charts in percussion and color guard.

 

As for the night’s winner, though, Bluecoats maintained the corps’ undefeated season with a margin of victory of 1.10 points over the field, which is nearly the same as its recent lead of 1.15, earned July 20 in San Antonio.

Bluecoats took first place in all three overall captions including general effect, visual and music on Friday night. The Canton, Ohio corps’ final tally of 94.450 is the highest score at the Masters of the Summer Music Games since 2010 when the Blue Devils won with a 95.300. 
 
“We’ve been so fortunate and so humbled to be in the position we are right now,” Bluecoats drum major Catherine Oles said. “Going into these last couple of weeks, there’s this really cool vibe of everyone recognizing where we are, and recognizing the exciting parts of what has happened, but also recognizing the work that still needs to be done.”

Regiment Sneaks Ahead

4. Phantom Regiment » 90.650
5. Carolina Crown » 90.500

One of the summer’s major noisemakers, Phantom Regiment sparked new competitive intrigue, pulling ahead of Carolina Crown by a slim margin of 0.15 points.

“All season we’ve just been getting better and better at each show,” Regiment head conductor Keri McCourt said. “This corps has been so eager and so hungry. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Prior to Friday’s event, the Rockford, Illinois corps — which hasn’t outscored Carolina Crown at a DCI Tour event in more than a decade — had been steadily making up ground in this key competitive race. 

 

The two corps were separated by more than two points July 16 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, but that gap slimmed to just three tenths by July 20 in San Antonio.

“I was kind of nervous going into tonight because we hadn’t had a performance since San Antonio,” McCourt added. “But they really showed up tonight. Everything that we’ve been working on really showed up.”

While Regiment held an advantage of 0.4 points in general effect, Crown earned a lead in the music captions thanks especially to a higher score in music analysis. The Rockford, Illinois corps, though, found scoring advantages in percussion, visual proficiency and visual analysis. 

Mandarins Near 90

6. Mandarins » 88.200
7. The Cavaliers » 85.450
8. Music City » 77.900

In sixth-place, Mandarins inched closer to the 90-point threshold. The corps earned its first 90 as a World Class corps at the 2022 DCI World Championships, and in 2023, Mandarins cracked 90 points for the first time on August 1. 

As for The Cavaliers, the Rosemont, Illinois corps notched a tally of 85.450, while scoring as high as fifth in percussion. 

 

Music City rounded out the lineup in eighth place, with a score of 77.900 in front of an appreciative hometown audience. 

“It was absolutely amazing,” Music City drum major Erin Ernes said. “I haven’t seen a crowd this big in forever. And the energy … getting that audience reaction was just amazing.”

All of tonight’s performing corps will next head to Atlanta for Saturday’s DCI Southeastern Championship presented by Ultimate Drill Book, except for The Cavaliers and Music City who will travel on to North Carolina for Sunday’s event in Winston-Salem.

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