Spartans reach new heights, soar to Open Class title

MARION, Ind. — David Marshall Jr. locked his eyes shut. His lips pursed together as if the weight of an entire corps was jutting into his mouth. His chest lifted then submerged, the result of a hyperventilating breath held in.

Then he waited. He held in all of his emotion. All of his pride. He downplayed his elation until it became officially official, allowing his jubilation to linger until the announcer declared Spartans the 2019 Open Class champions.

Marshall Jr. opened his eyes and peeked at the celebration, a smile creeping through just before he walked forward and saluted.

The trophy was doled off. The gold medals hung around the necks of the Spartans’ drum majors. Then Marshall Jr. leaned over and embraced his fellow drum major, Matt Mackay.

The Spartans’ Open Class victory has been on the horizon for a few weeks now. As scores from across the country churned in week after week, no Open Class corps was ever able to top Spartans. By Monday night, the Nashua corps had nearly a point-and-a-half edge for the top spot.

But things change in a hurry — at least they can.

So as they kept winning, Spartans never allowed themselves to look toward Tuesday. Their minds never drifted to the moment the trophy was veering in their direction or the medals were clinging against their chests.

As Marshall Jr. and Mackay hugged, it was as if a season’s worth of raw emotion finally escaped, out in the forefront. They could finally reap the benefits of their hard work, dedication and day-at-a-time mentality.

“I don’t think I’ve quite wrapped my mind around it yet,” Mackay said. “All we wanted to do was get better, this is just the cherry on top.”

 1. Spartans » 81.050
 2. Legends » 79.400
 3. Gold » 79.250

Aside from a second-place finish in percussion, Spartans swept every caption en route to their first title since 2007.

More on Spartans’ 2019 production, “Experiment X”

“We’re pretty excited,” Spartans’ corps director Richard Rigolini said. “It’s been 12 years since we won last so it was time for it to happen again so we’re pretty pumped. This was a pretty special group of kids from the beginning, we knew something great was going to happen.”

Legends turned it on for Tuesday night’s Finals, pushing ahead of Gold for the first time this season to earn an all-time best silver-medal finish. The Kalamazoo corps also earned a caption award — in percussion — for the first time to help it erase what was a gap of 0.9 points in Monday’s Prelims.

“Yesterday was still a great show but it wasn’t really our strongest,” Legends executive director Ibe Sodawalla said. “That really fed a lot of energy saying, ‘We know we have another one in us and we know the environment, so let’s just make it the best performance.’ And it was, by far, the best Legends’ performance we’ve ever had.”

More on Legends’ 2019 production, “Song of the Siren”

Despite falling out of its second-place spot from Monday, Gold earned its second-straight bronze medal, continuing a major improvement from 2017’s seventh-place finish. Gold scored ahead of Legends in both general effect and music.

“Honestly, since we were in second place we still had a ways to go. That just drove us to work harder,” Gold drum major Ashley Kang said. “For us, it’s not really about the placing but the fact that we gave all of our effort out there.”

 4. Louisiana Stars » 75.850
 5. Southwind » 75.683

Louisiana Stars pushed back ahead of Southwind to earn its best finish in its six-year history after finishing eighth a year ago. The corps scored well ahead of Southwind in music en route to yet another close finish.

“We placed really well last night but I told the members not to settle. We really wanted to go into today with a lot more energy and do better,” Louisiana Stars drum major Jaden Romero said. “You always want to finish on that high note and we literally did that tonight.”

Southwind’s fifth-place finish marks what will likely be the largest year-to-year placement jump of the 2019 season, moving up five slots from 10th a year ago and earning the Open Class “Most Improved” award. The corps broke 75 for the first time since returning to the DCI scene in 2015 and scored well ahead of Louisiana Stars in general effect.

Learn more about Southwind’s breakout season

“This was even stronger than yesterday,” Southwind drum major Rhianna Zaidan said. “This is my age-out year so I wouldn’t want to end on any other show and if this is our last performance, I’d be happy with it.”

 6. 7th Regiment » 73.750
 7. Guardians » 73.575
 8. River City Rhythm » 73.300
 9. Golden Empire » 70.650

7th Regiment held serve in sixth for the second year in a row by a rail-thin margin, using strong visual scores to stay just ahead of Guardians and River City Rhythm. Those three had been separated by less than a point in Monday’s Prelims, with the Connecticut corps also emerging in sixth by a similarly small advantage.

“We were going to come in and we were going to do this one for ourselves. We were going to make the most out of it and put in everything we had,” 7th Regiment drum major Serenity Morris said. “They’ve been putting their blood, sweat and tears into this and for them to go out and do it for them, it makes the entire season worth it.”

After taking eighth in Monday’s Prelims, Guardians used standout general effect and visual scores to push ahead of River City Rhythm by a slim margin, therefore matching its 2018 Open Class finish.

“Coming out here on Finals night, all you want is to have your best show of the season,” Guardians’ drum major Brian Lyke said. “And we definitely had our best run of the season. We had a rough run last night but they came out and they were checked in.”

River City Rhythm celebrated its fifth anniversary by also matching its all-time best Open Class finish — achieved a year ago — in eighth place. The Minneapolis corps finished ahead of Guardians in the music captions.

More on River City Rhythm’s fifth-anniversary show, “Breaking the News”

“I am so pleased with the performance tonight. I’m crying right now a little bit because that was the most energetic, cleanest, best show I could have asked for during Finals.” River City Rhythm drum major Katherine Stone said. “Having your best performance during Finals, that’s success in my book.”

Golden Empire scored as high as fourth in percussion and moved its way into the Top 10 for the first time ever. 2019 is just the second time the Bakersfield corps has come to the DCI World Championships; last year, Golden Empire earned 11th place.

“This was the true Golden Empire you saw tonight. I’m just happy the crowd was able to see what kind of work we’ve been putting in all season,” Golden Empire drum major Caleb Marroquin said. “This is what we’ve been trying to show people all season.”

 10. Shadow » 69.525
 11. Colt Cadets » 65.600
 12. Raiders » 64.250

2019 marked Shadow’s second year ever coming to the DCI World Championships, and the Oregon, Wisconsin corps locked up its first Top 10 finish ever, by a strong margin thanks to standout scores in music and a sixth-place percussion showing.

“I’ve been in this corps for two years so it’s really exciting to see how much we’ve improved,” said Shadow vibraphone player Gibson Erchul. “When I found out we got a 67.275 last night, it was unbelievable. Our high score last year was a 65 so it was just super awesome to see we improved by so much.”

After three seasons removed from their last Open Class Finals competitive performance, Colt Cadets shined in 11th place, earning their best score at this event since 2014.

Learn about Colt Cadets’ all-inclusive mentality

“The energy that we got from making Finals, that was really great,” Colt Cadets’ drum major Andrew Smits said. “We haven’t made it since 2015. We’re not about the scores but to have people say, ‘You guys deserve another run at this show.’ That was super special.”

Like Colt Cadets, Raiders made their return to the Top 12 after missing out in 2018. Their Tuesday night output topped last year’s Open Class Prelims result by nearly four points.

“Coming back and making (Finals) was a really big deal,” Raiders’ drum major Tucker McGrew said. “It’s meant a lot to come on a journey with these people and have this redemption round and show the world what the Raiders can do.”

All Open Class corps will perform next at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the site of the DCI World Championships beginning Thursday, August 8.

View Thursday's DCI World Championship Prelims lineup

View a day-by-day guide to DCI World Championship events

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