On Saturday, July 21, the drum corps world will collide in San Antonio in the first of 3 major regional competitions that will define the 2018 season. It will undoubtedly be a turning point for several corps.

VANGUARD GAINING MOMENTUM

The Santa Clara Vanguard are having their greatest season since 1999. That was the last time they won a DCI World Championship in a tied with the Blue Devils. Vanguard took a massive step last night when they were able to top the Blue Devils, Bluecoats, and Cavaliers in Oklahoma. 

As for the competition this weekend, San Antonio has proven to be elusive for Vanguard. SCV has never won the regional inside the Alamodome. The closest they have ever come are 2nd place finishes in 2000 behind The Cadets and again in 2001 behind BD.

Then, from 2002-2016 the highest they ever got was 3rd. Last year, however SCV made a run at capturing their first San Antonio championship but fell to BD by just 0.475.

Will 2018 be the first time the Santa Clara Vanguard is able to reign supreme in Texas? Stay tuned on Saturday night.

RACE TO FINALS BEGINS

Every year, one of the biggest goals every corps establishes is to make finals at World Championships. The Mandarins came within a point of doing that last year. 

After finishing 20th in 2015, Mandarin rose up the ranks to 17th in 2016 and then continued their climb in 2017 to 13th. Right now, they are sitting #11 and in a prime position to qualify for finals for the first time in corps history.

Crossmen will have the hometown crowd behind them in San Antonio and are sitting 12th heading into this weekend. Bones have made DCI finals each of the last 4 seasons. But the Crossmen are undoubtedly looking to make a run at the top 10. It will need to begin in San Antonio. 

The last time Crossmen finished the season in the top 10, they were able to do the same in San Antonio. In 2003, they were able to jump to 9th place in the Alamodome and consequently they finished 9th that season in Orlando.

The Academy are making another run at finals themselves. After making the top 12 for the first time in corps history in 2016, the corps from Arizona took a bit of a slide backwards in 2017 finishing 14th. But now they are knocking on the door again.

They have some work to do to catch Crossmen and Mandarins, but they have proven in the past that they are talented enough to earn a finals spot. In 2016, The Academy were able to land in that all important 12th spot after the San Antonio regional and carried that all the way to Indianapolis. Will they be able to do so again this weekend?

All the action gets started at 1:10 pm CT on Saturday in San Antonio.