For the first time in 15 years, Colts capped off the corps' 2022 campaign with a return to the DCI World Championship Finals and a position amongst the coveted Top 12.
Take a look back at the Dubuque, Iowa corps' road back to the DCI Tour's finale event.
2007 | "Equinox"
10th Place, 86.150
Colts' 2007 season featured the corps' second-highest placement ever and was its first Finals appearance since 2001. The Dubuque, Iowa corps earned its Top 12 position comfortably, outscoring the 13th-place Academy in Semifinals by 2.5 points. From Semifinals to Finals, the corps moved from 11th to 10th, leapfrogging Glassmen on the season's final day.
2008 | "Night and Day"
14th Place, 85.175 » 1.200 points from Top 12
12th Place: Madison Scouts | Colts outscored eventual 12th-place-finisher Madison Scouts in the two corps' first eight head-to-head meetings. The Scouts, though, finished ahead of Colts by 0.125 points in San Antonio and never looked back. At the World Championship Semifinals in Bloomington, Indiana, Colts scored less than a point behind the Crossmen who finished in 13th place.
2009 | "Fathoms"
13th Place, 85.600 » 0.300 points from Top 12
12th Place: Troopers | Colts and Troopers started their head-to-head race with a tie in their first meeting of the 2009 season, July 10 in Windsor, Colorado. Colts outscored the Troop in five of their next six meetings, but Troopers scored ahead of the Iowa corps by half a point in San Antonio, Texas. Throughout the remainder of the summer, Colts came as close as 0.15 points to Troopers, but never pushed back ahead of the Wyoming corps.
2010 | "True Colors"
13th Place, 84.650 » 1.850 points from Top 12
12th Place: Glassmen | Glassmen ultimately kept a significant stronghold on the 12th position throughout the 2010 season, but Colts found strenghts in a variety of scoring captions, scoring 12th-or-higher in all visual captions, as well as brass and music analysis.
2011 | "Deception: The Jagged Edge"
16th Place, 82.250 » 4.300 points from Top 12
12th Place: Spirit of Atlanta | The 2011 Colts were part of a hotly-contested scoring race among the mid-teen placements. While the gap between 12th and 13th was quite wide — just over 3 points separated Spirit of Atlanta and the 13th-place Glassmen — 13th and 16th places were separated by a stunningly-close 1.15 points.
Watch "Deception: The Jagged Edge" on DVD
2012 | "Boundaries"
17th Place, 79.200 » 5.700 points from Top 12
12th Place: Crossmen | Colts' 2012 placements fluctuated throughout the 2012 season; the Dubuque, Iowa corps earned 16th place at regional events in both San Antonio and Atlanta. At season's end, Colts scored as high as 15th place in the color guard caption.
2013 | "Field of Dreams"
15th Place, 82.450 » 3.750 points from Top 12
12th Place: Blue Stars | Colts improved the corps' finish by two placements from 2012 to 2013, moving back into the Top 15 and back over the 80-point threshold. The corps made moves during World Championships as well, sliding from 16th in Prelims to 15th in Semifinals, just 0.15 points ahead of Pacific Crest.
2014 | "Dark Side of the Rainbow"
13th Place, 85.350 » 0.100 points from Top 12
12th Place: Crossmen | In one of the all-time closest Top 12 cutoff finishes, Colts finished just a hair outside of a finalist berth. Colts didn't go down without a fight; after scoring 1.525 points behind Crossmen in Prelims, the Dubque corps cut its gap to just a tenth of a point in Semifinals. Colts' Finals Week push was compounded upon a late-summer surge, having finished 14th two weeks prior in Atlanta, greater than two points away from 12th place.
Watch "Dark Side of the Rainbow" on DVD
Download "Dark Side of the Rainbow" audio
2015 | "...And a Shot Rings Out: A Johnny Staccato Murder Mystery"
14th Place, 83.025 » 0.850 points from Top 12
12th Place: Crossmen | In another close Top 12 race — this time featuring three corps, Crossmen, Troopers and Colts — Colts finished within one point of 2015's finalist pool. Colts once again made up significant ground from Prelims to Semis, cutting its gap behind 12th place from 1.65 to 0.85 points.
Download "...And a Shot Rings Out" audio
2016 | "Nachtmusik"
16th Place, 81.513 | 4.013 points from Top 12
12th Place: Boston Crusaders | Colts finished 16th in 2016, less than a point outside of the Top 15. The Iowa corps finished 15th at regional events in San Antonio and Atlanta. In 2016's World Championship Semifinals, Colts earned 15th place in general effect and 14th place in brass.
2017 | "Both Sides Now"
15th Place, 83.888 » 2.587 points from Top 12
12th Place: Madison Scouts | Colts finished just 0.30 points behind the 14th-place Academy in 2017, after having initially taken 16th place in San Antonio. The corps had strong scores in visual captions in 2017, finishing 13th place in visual analysis and 14th in total visual.
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2018 | "True Believer"
14th Place, 84.612 » 2.638 points from 12th
12th Place: Crossmen | In Indianapolis, the Dubuque corps jumped from 15th place in Prelims to 14th place in Semis, ahead of The Academy, by just 0.05 points. Colts were in 15th place in both San Antonio and Atlanta, but moved into 14th at season's end largely due, once again, to impressive visual scores. The corps scored 12th at 2018's Semifinals event in visual analysis and color guard.
Download "True Believer" video
2019 | "When Hell Freezes Over"
16th Place, 84.250 » 3.550 points from Top 12
12th Place: Phantom Regiment | Continuing the corps' back-and-forth competition with The Academy, Colts finished just 0.075 behind the Arizona corps in Semifinals, in the race for 15th place.
Download "When Hell Freezes Over" audio
2021 | "Leap of Faith"
Colts entertained an array of audiences during 2021's non-competitive, abbreviated "Celebration Tour." The corps' production featured plenty of toe-tapping, recognizable music, including a pair of George Michael tunes, "Faith" and "Freedom! '90."
Download "Leap of Faith" audio
2022 | "The Silk Road"
11th Place, 87.200
After two full years away from competition, Colts flourished in 2022, bursting back into the finalist pool with an 11th-place finish and the corps' all-time high final score. The Iowa corps' Top 12 status came into focus during mid-July events, as the corps earned 12th place at the season's only full "regional," in San Antonio.