Week 2 of the 2014 season is upon us. Last week featured the first competition of the season at Washington, won by Morton, and a exhibition festival at McHenry. The season truly gets underway this weekend, with a whopping 9 competitions. As usual, we’re going to attempt to do predictions of most shows, with the first few weeks based off of history. Please keep in mind, all predictions are always done for fun.
We apologize that some of the shows have just top three with no writing, but we’ve run out of time. Good luck to all bands!
Lake Park Lancer Joust: Roselle, IL
Class A: This class features H.D. Jacobs and Wheaton North. They faced each other twice last year, with Wheaton North edging out Jacobs for third in class at the Joust last year, and Jacobs with a 3rd place finish at the Lincoln-Way Invitational to Wheaton North’s 6th place. We think H.D. Jacobs will take this class and the opportunity to perform in exhibition in Finals.
Class AA: This will be an interesting class. Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way North will meet for the first time outside of ISU since LWN opened in 2008. We think they’ll battle it out for first place, with Lincoln-Way North taking first, and East in second. Wheeling looks to take third in this class, with Naperville North right behind them.
Class AAA: Prospect will take this class here. Lockport got off to a slow start here last year, placing 5th in class behind John Hersey, Plainfield North and Millard West from Nebraska. The real story here is figuring out who will place second and third in class. Plainfield North has a new director this year, and is kind of a question mark for the time being after having a great season last year. We think Lockport Township will take second, Hersey 3rd, and Plainfield North close behind in fourth.
Finalists: Prospect, Lockport Township, John Hersey, Plainfield North, Lincoln-Way North, Lincoln-Way East, Wheeling, Naperville North, Downers Grove South, Greendale, WI.
Grand Champion: Prospect looks to be the 5 peat Grand Champion here. Lincoln-Way North second, and a resurgent Lincoln-Way East third.
Belleville East Marching Invitational: Belleville, IL
Class 2A: 1.) Wesclin
Class 3A: 1.) Francis Howell North, MO 2.) Mehlville, MO 3.) Collinsville
Class 4A: 1.) Rockwood Summit, MO 2.) Edwardsville 3.) Jefferson City
Grand Champion: Rockwood Summit, MO
Stagg Jamboree: Palos Hills, IL
Class A: First things first, welcome back Oak Lawn Community to competitive marching after a 6 year hiatus. Over the past few years, Lakes Community has really come on as one of the better “small” bands in the Chicagoland area, with a number of first and second place finishes in class. We think that will continue here, with a first place in class A. As a matter of fact, we think this class will finish exactly as it did last year, with Providence Catholic in 2nd, and Sandwich in 3rd.
Class AA: Linc0ln-Way Central starts off the 2014 season here with a new director and a “fresher” look. We think they’ll take first here, with Glenbard West 2nd, and Argo Community 3rd.
Class AAA: Will this class be as interesting as last year, when Bolingbrook and Huntley tied for 2nd, only 2.5 points behind Marian Catholic? That remains to be seen. The later addition of Fremd and Elk Grove make this class even more interesting, with Elk Grove taking a chance with a really difficult music book. We think Marian Catholic will take this class, with Huntley in 2nd, and Fremd in 3rd.
Grand Champion: Marian Catholic looks to win this early season competition. However, if they’re not “up to snuff”, Lincoln-Way Central could take the title here.
North Knights Marching Festival: Grayslake, IL
Class A: We really don’t know how decent of a band South Milwaukee is, so we’ll go with Marengo and Richmond-Burton. These two bands didn’t meet last year, so this could be a bit of a tossup. We think Marengo will take the slight victory here, with Richmond-Burton 2nd and South Milwaukee 3rd.
Class AA: Lakes Community looks to win their second class title of the weekend here, with Antioch 2nd, and Grant Community in 3rd.
Class AAA: Elk Grove and Rolling Meadows met up at three competitions last year; with all the results being rather close. Elk Grove took two out of the three meetings, and we think they’ll do the same here. Rolling Meadows will be 2nd, and Grayslake Central 3rd.
Grand Champion: We think Elk Grove will take this show. Lakes Community could take it from them, as they did in 2012.
Murphysboro Drums at Appletime: Murphysboro, IL
Class 1A: Sparta looks to start their 2014 campaign with a new director and a class championship here. Pinckneyville Community 2nd, and Anna-Jonesboro in 3rd.
Class 2A: Potosi, MO will once again take this class, with Carterville coming in a close 2nd, and Massac County in 3rd.
Class 3A: Waterloo will win here, with Marion in 2nd, and Carbondale 3rd.
Grand Champion: As they have done since 2008, Waterloo will win Grand Champion.
Metro East Marching Classic: O’Fallon, IL
Class A: St. Charles and Nashville are here for the first time, and both look to challenge for one of the top spots. This is only Nashville’s second year back into competition from a long hiatus. Don’t be surprised by the robust size of this band despite the small school classification. St. Charles should finish first, with Nashville a close second, and Mater Dei not far behind.
Class AA: 1.) Ft. Zumwalt South 2.) Triad 3.) Ft. Zumwalt East
Class AAA: Ft. Zumwalt North should comfortably finish at the top of their class. The battle for the remaining two trophies should be a close one. Francis Howell North and Oakville should finish 2nd and 3rd here respectively, with Granite City and Collinsville close.
Class AAAA: This should be the class to watch for Grand Champion. The temperatures will hover around 50 degrees when the class starts its performances. Rockwood Summit jumps up to this class after winning 3A last year and looks to challenge both Edwardsville and Belleville East for the title. In the past 2 years, 1st and 2nd place was decided by less than a point, with Edwardsville triumphing over East in both 2012 and 2013. We think Rockwood Summit will take this class, with Edwardsville in 2nd and Belleville East 3rd.
Grand Champion: Rockwood Summit wins their 2nd title of the day.
Sullivan Marching Band Competition: Sullivan, IL
Class 1A: 1.) Okaw Valley 2.) Heritage 3.) Pana
Class 2A: 1.) Mt. Zion 2.) Mt. Carmel 3.) Robinson
Class 3A: 1.) Monticello 2.) Effingham
Grand Champion: Monticello
Morton Marching Invitational: Morton, IL
Class 1A: Lincoln-Way West looks to get their season started on a good note here. East Peoria will be 2nd, and Farmington 3rd.
Class 2A: This class is a repeat of Class 5A from last weekend at Washington, with Victor J. Andrew thrown in for good measure. We think Victor J. Andrew will take this class by a very slim margin, with Limestone Community 2nd and United Township in 3rd.
Class 3A: Very interesting class here with Bloomington, Normal West and Rock Island. Normal West’s early time could hurt them as the judges save higher scores for the later bands, but we think they’ll narrowly edge out Bloomington here, in a reversal of last year, where Bloomington narrowly edged out Normal West. Rock Island in 3rd.
Grand Champion: Normal West, but it will be close.
Pontiac Indian Showdown: Pontiac, IL
Class 1A: 1.) Tri-Valley 2.) ROWVA 3.) Watseka Community
Class 2A: 1.) Eureka 2.) Prairie Central 3.) Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Class 3A: 1.) Dunlap 2.) Danville 3.) East Peoria
Class 4A: 1.) Normal West 2.) Washington Community 3.) Champaign Central
Grand Champion: Normal West
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