Well, about 200 groups performed today across six classifications, at four unique venues throughout the state of Ohio. 

After over 12 hours of competitive action, here are the key notes from each class, heading into an equally full day of performances on Friday.

INDEPENDENT WORLD PRELIMS

29 Groups, 20 Advance

The top was about as hotly-contested as expected, with Pulse Percussion (96.700), Broken City (96.400) and Music City Mystique (96.200) leading the pack through one day of competition. All three fended off Rhythm X (94.900) by a decent margin, while RCC rounded out the overall top five with a score of 93.650.

These are the same five groups that sat atop the Independent World ranks in 2018, but in a noticeably different order. Between the quintet — and especially at the top — there’s plenty of room for shifting, like we’ve seen in years past, before the dust settles on Saturday.

Finishing right behind Matrix (91.925), and also advancing out of round one, Monarch Independent (91.900) and George Mason University (91.438) were the biggest “surprises” from PIW prelims; neither has ever finished higher than 10th, but earned seventh and eighth overall respectively in Thursday’s competition. Both groups, as well as POW Percussion (91.175), also topped Infinity (90.350), which took sixth a year ago.

From there, it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out around the Top 15 finals cut-off. Right now, Atlanta Quest (88.113) sits on the 15th position, just 0.063 ahead of Vessel (88.050) and 0.2 ahead of Veritas (87.913). 

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PIW Semifinals

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SCHOLASTIC WORLD PRELIMS

21 Groups, 20 Advance

So, Chino Hills beat Ayala by five points in round one. That’s worth noting. Not a single competitor in PSW’s first of two blocks came any closer. 

What’s crazy, though, is that Chino Hills’ 96.125 is nearly an entire point shy of where the group scored in prelims a year ago, just two days before breaking the Scholastic World record score. 

Some of that space between those two traditional southern California powers was filled in by the likes of Arcadia (94.775), Darmouth (94.150), Burleson Central (92.475) and Etiwanda (91.875), but it’s very clear that someone’s going to have to make up some serious ground in order for Chino Hills to not win its third title in a row and sixth in eight years.

Before moving down the recap, how about Burleson Central? This ensemble wasn’t even in Scholastic World as recently as 2017 — and wasn’t even competing as recently as 2015 — and has now positioned itself in the top four after earning sixth last year. 

It’s also pretty interesting to see Avon in 7th overall and within about a point of Ayala, especially when you consider the nearly three points that separated the two last year. 

Much like in PIW, the race for a finals position is going to be really tight in tomorrow’s semis. Right now, the groups seeded No. 14 to No. 18 are within less than two points of each other. 

Currently, South County (83.950) and Cesar E. Chavez (83.850) are on the right side of the line, but the likes of Walled Lake Central (83.025), Lambert (82.513) and Centerville (82.250) are certainly within striking distance.

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PSW Semifinals

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INDEPENDENT OPEN PRELIMS

31 Groups, 24 Advance

Last year, Matrix Open dominated this class, to the tune of a lead of more than two points over the entire PIO field. 

This year, the guard may have changed once again. Bakersfield College — which has shown plenty of promise in recent years, most notably with last year’s sixth-place finish — led all 31 groups in prelims with a score of 94.075. 2018’s silver-medalist, Infinity 2 (93.538) finished just about half a point behind Bakersfield, second overall, with Matrix Open and Violet Crown Independent both tied at 92.288 for third and fourth in round one.

Round two’s scores made things really intriguing at the top. Spirit Winter Percussion (92.600) and Triple Crown (92.350) both checked in a hair ahead of Matrix and Violet Crown, with Liberty University not far off at a score of 91.900.

With all of that in mind, there’s about two points separating the entire top seven in this class.

More so than any other class, though, the race to get into Saturday’s finals is incredibly close in PIO. And it’s even closer that things are at the top.

Let’s just put it this way. River City Rhythm currently sits in 13th and has a score of 86.738. Divergent is exactly one point off of that mark, at 85.738, and currently sits in nineteenth place. 

That’s one point separating seven ensembles, centered right over the cut-off line. What’s more? The next four groups (seeded 20th to 24th) are all within about a point of Divergent’s mark. So, about two points separate 12th and 24th. The very last group to clinch a semifinalist position is also just two points from the finals cut-off. 

Are you kidding me?!

Anyone in Independent Open had better buckle up for the next two days.  

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PIO Semifinals

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SCHOLASTIC OPEN PRELIMS

50 Groups, 32 Advance

To put it simply, there are a lot of newer faces at the top of Scholastic Open — at least when compared to a year ago. 

That trend was especially noticeable in rounds one and two, which were headlined by Plymouth Canton County School District (92.763), Norwalk (91.938), defending PSA champion Plainfield (91.400), Trumbull (90.213) and Choctawhatchee (90.063). Of those five, three earned PSO finalist positions last year, but none finished higher than eighth place. 

In those same rounds, last year’s gold medalist, Clear Brook, snatched the very last wild card bid into semifinals, while last year’s silver medalist, Old Bridge, fell just .338 short of the cut.

Later rounds produced some intriguing competition at the top; round three in particular saw its top three ensembles — Fair Lawn, Fountain Valley and Lawrence Township — all place within .763 of each other. By that point, eight groups in PSO had broken 90.

And then round four happened, and that number nearly doubled. Seven groups in the final round posted scores higher than 90 — including the top two PSO scores of the day, Sparkman (94.750) and Los Alamitos (93.300) — with two more scoring between 89.9 and 90 or better. 

So, that means there are 16 groups that have already broken 90, and another 10 within just two points of that mark, vying for 15 spots in Scholastic Open finals.

Goodness, this class is deep.

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PSO Semifinals

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INDEPENDENT A SEMIFINALS

20 Groups, 15 Advance

PIA competition is very tight near the top, with Unity Percussion (93.750), Railmen Indoor Percussion (93.475) and STRYKE Percussion 2 (93.250) all separated by half a point. While the first two of those three both finished in the top five last year, STRYKE 2 is in its first year of competition at the WGI World Championship level.

The other notable storyline from today’s PIA action was a very close race for the last spots in finals; Saints Percussion (83.550) and Point Indoor Percussion (83.013) both slipped into Friday night’s competition in 14th and 15th place, while Lake Effect Percussion (82.925) missed the cut by less than 0.2 points. 

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PIA Finals

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SCHOLASTIC A SEMIFINALS

24 Groups, 15 Advance

E.D. White (94.025) enters Friday night’s finals with a pretty commanding lead over the PSA field; its next three closest competitors — Zionsville Community (92.713), Hamilton Southeastern (92.450) and Grand Blanc (92.288) — all stand a good point-and-a-half off the lead, give or take. 

It’s hard to imagine a spread of 1.3 or more points being erased in tomorrow’s finals, but crazier things have happened. 

There’s plenty of other potential for shuffling of placements tomorrow, though, as the groups currently seeded 7th through 10th are all separated by .75 points, with the next four all within about a point of that mark.

The last group to sneak into PSA finals, Kings (86.225), did so by the skin of its teeth, fending off 16th-place Bob Jones by just a quarter of a point for the final spot. 

View the full schedule for tomorrow’s PSA Finals