Bucs, Rogues Hollow take big leads, Hurricanes win close at DCA Prelims
The first of two days of Drum Corps Associates World Championships are in the books, following a full day of Prelims competition Saturday at the Rochester Community Sports Complex.
Here’s a full breakdown of all the action from Saturday’s event:
WORLD CLASS
- Reading Buccaneers » 97.700
- Hawthorne Caballeros » 95.250
- Bushwackers » 91.200
- Atlanta CV » 89.825
In search of their 15th championship title in the last 17 season, Reading Buccaneers opened up the weekend on a strong competitive note, earning an advantage of 2.45 points over the four-corps World Class field.
Hawthorne Caballeros, which have provided relatively close competition throughout this season and last for the Reading corps, landed in second place, comfortably ahead of Bushwackers and Atlanta CV.
“I feel amazing, this was our best run yet,” Kim Roman said. “The energy was great, everything we worked on in rehearsal showed up today, everyone was just really excited.”
A decent-sized scoring gap separate second and third place in the World Class division, but a close race for third unfolded between Bushwackers and Atlanta CV, with the former cracking 90 points and holding a lead of 1.375.
OPEN CLASS
- Hurricanes » 88.900
- White Sabers » 88.600
- Fusion Core » 85.375
- Cincinnati Tradition » 83.050
Open Class competition featured a pair of 2022 gold medalists — Hurricanes, which won the Open Class title a year ago, and Fusion Core, which took home ‘A’ Class gold. In Saturday’s event, Open Class first place went to Hurricanes by an eye-catchingly slim margin of 0.3 points overw White Sabers.
After being split by just 0.25 points at a virtual competitive event held August 29, second-place White Sabers opened up a lead of 3.225 points. For Fusion Core, in its first year since moving up from ‘A’ Class, the corps posted a third-place finish with a strong score over 85 points.
“The general vibe of the ensemble has been that we’re really excited to be up in a higher class,” Fusion Core drum major Jenna N. Foley said. “We had a really solid run and we can’t wait for tomorrow night.”
Rounding out the Open Class leaderboard, Cincinnati Tradition finished in fourth place with a score of 83.050.
‘A’ CLASS
- Rogues Hollow Regiment » 82.625
- Skyliners » 78.825
- Govenaires » 77.125
- Columbus Saints » 71.550
In wide-open ‘A’ Class competition following the move of last year’s champion into the Open Class division, Rogues Hollow Regiment posted top scores with a sizable advantage over its field of competitors.
Skyliners, which took second place, edged out Govenaires by a margin of just under two points.
“It’s been a long, hard season; the last couple weeks it’s finally paying off and the corps is coming together,” Skyliners drum major Timmy Allen said. “When that happens, everything else falls into place. It’s just super exciting.”
Making their way to the Rochester stage from over a thousand miles away in St. Peter, Minnesota, Govenaires offered an always fan-friendly performance and took third place in ‘A’ Class competition.
Finishing in ‘A’ Class fourth place, Columbus Saints neared its final score from 2022 — a previous all-time high for the corps — with a tally of 71.550 as compared to last year’s season-ending mark of 71.675.
All 12 of Saturday’s competing corps will take part in Sunday’s DCA Finals, set for 5 p.m. ET at the Rochester Community Sports Complex.