MARION, Indiana – Spartans opened up DCI World Championships Week in a strong position, earning top marks at the DCI Open Class World Championship Prelims, Monday night at Indiana Wesleyan University’s Wildcat Stadium.
In pursuit of the Open Class gold medal, the Nashua, New Hampshire corps — which held an advantage of 1.95 points over Monday’s Open Class field and earned top scores in all captions — will set its sights on Tuesday’s winner-take-all Open Class World Championship Finals.
“We have worked so hard to get here,” Spartans drum major Isabelle Sonia said. “There were a lot of nerves with the rain delay today with our rehearsal. But we were just so excited and I felt really good.”
1. Spartans » 82.250
2. Gold » 80.300
3. Southwind » 78.250
Monday marked the sixth head-to-head meeting between Spartans and Gold; at the five previous, Spartans’ advantage hovered between 1.5 and two points.
Gold, which is aiming for its fourth Open Class medalist position in the last four competitive seasons, scored closest to Spartans in the music captions.
“Tonight’s run was amazing,” Gold drum major Charlie Ly said. “We’ve been working very hard all week to get that perfect run out there.”
Southwind posted a strong score of 78.250 in third place, good for its highest score since returning to the DCI Tour as an Open Class corps in 2014.
4. Columbians » 75.825
5. The Battalion » 74.975
6. Guardians » 74.875
In the closest competitive grouping of the night, just 0.95 points separated Columbians, The Battalion and Guardians, with just over two points separating the fourth-place Columbians from a spot in the top three.
On a special night — the corps’ Open Class World Championship debut — Columbians found a scoring foothold in the overall visual caption.
“The whole season, we have just been preparing everybody for what drum corps is like and coming out here was just another step,” Columbians drum major Korey Tucker said. “It’s really exciting to see how much the corps has gone from can’t even stand still in a set position to now being able to do a 10-minute show flawlessly.”
The Battalion used a strong advantage in general effect and a slim lead in overall music to edge out Guardians — who outscored the Utah corps in overall visual — by just one tenth of a point. Guardians scored as high as third in percussion.
For Guardians drum major Em Valadez, Monday night’s performance created lasting memories.
“This is the fullest crowd we have performed for, including San Antonio,” Valadez said. “There are a lot of fans and supporters here since it’s Open Class Championships. It fills my heart and I know it makes the members happy.”
7. River City Rhythm » 71.525
8. 7th Regiment » 70.525
Finishing in seventh place Monday night was River City Rhythm. Despite scoring behind 7th Regiment by half a point in overall visual, the Anoka, Minnesota corps built its one-point advantage with strong scores in general effect and music. 7th Regiment also scored ahead of Guardians in the color guard caption.
Monday night’s run was an emotional experience for 7th Regiment drum major Meredith Holtmeyer. Putting together a strong performance in front of a passionate drum corps crowd at Wildcat Stadium was not only “surreal,” but a reminder of how much her corps has grown this season.
“The work they’ve put in the last two days since our last competition in Ohio has been amazing, honestly,” Holtmeyer said. “They’re up early on that field working really hard and it just makes me tear up a little bit seeing how well they can perform when we get on the field.”
9. Colt Cadets » 68.450
10. Raiders » 68.050
11. Les Stentors » 65.225
Colt Cadets finished Monday night’s event in ninth place, earning a slim lead of just 0.4 points over the 10th-place Raiders thanks to leads in the overall music and visual captions. The New Jersey corps scored ahead of Colt Cadets in general effect.
Colt Cadets experienced some shifts to its rehearsal plans prior to the event due to weather, but were able to put together a strong performance with minimal preparation.
“It was very good, especially for what we had,” Colt Cadets drum major Mason Stokes said. “Because of all the thunder and rain, we didn’t get to have a rehearsal or a music runthrough. So for what we did [prior to the event], today was really good. We pulled it together.”
Rounding out the Open Class leaderboard was Les Stentors. The Canada-based corps broke 65 points for the first time this season.
Also appearing at Monday’s Open Class Prelims event, Indianapolis-based SoundSport team Eclipse served as an engaging opening act.
The brand-new Indianapolis-based group has appeared at a handful of 2023 DCI Tour events, and will next appear at the SoundSport International Music & Food Festival, August 12.
“That was a good runthrough,” Eclipse director Casey Stone said. “We definitely have grown musically over the past few weeks since our last performance, and I’m excited for what we’ll bring to SoundSport on Saturday.”
Corps will now set their sights on Tuesday’s Open Class World Championship Finals which will feature all 11 of Monday’s competing corps.