November 24, 2010
2010 Bands of the Year
Filed under: — Dan Balash @ 12:00 pm

Every year after Grand Nationals, we conduct voting to decide which bands to name the Illinois Marching Online Bands of the Year.  This year’s voting consisted of  16 voters, which consisted of Illinois Marching Online Staff, as well as band directors from across the state of Illinois.  Also this year, for the first time ever, the users of the site had input into Bands of the Year as well.  All of the bands listed below have achieved high quality compared to the other bands in their class, and are worthy of special honor.

A quick explanation of how we conduct voting:  Every band that competes once in Illinois is eligible to be voted for.  Each voter is asked to vote for their picks in 4 divisions.  Division 1 (enrollment of 1600+, plus all 2009 Bands of America Grand National Semifinalists) has 12 selections, Division 2 (900-1599) receives 10, Division 3 (500-899) receives 8, and Division 4 (under 500) receives 7.  Each voter this year was also asked to vote for the “most improved band” in each class, and that was determined on their performances this year as compared to years past.

The points for each band are determined based on votes a band receives.  For example: Band A receives a 3rd place vote in Division 1.  As there are 12 bands being voted for, that band would receive 10 points towards their cumulative vote total.

A few more fun facts:

  • 14 people overall cast their ballots in the public vote.
  • 114 different bands had ballots cast for them in the staff vote.  In the public vote, 113 different bands were voted for.
  • Lincoln-Way West received the most “Most Improved” votes across all divisions with 8.
  • Morton received the most first place votes with 16.

And now, the 2010 Illinois Marching Online Bands of the Year!

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2010 Illinois Marching Online Bands of the Year

Division 1

1. Marian Catholic (195 points, 13 first-place votes)
2. Lincoln-Way East (173 points, 2 first-place votes)
3. Lake Park (164 points, 1 first-place vote)
4. Prospect (153 points)
5. Lincoln-Way North (120 points, 1 first-place vote)
6. Downers Grove South (80 points)
7. O’Fallon Township (68 points)
8. Victor J. Andrew (64 points)
9. John Hersey (58 points)
10. Naperville North (57 points)
11. Plainfield North (46 points)
12. Lockport (43 points)

Most Improved band(s) (tie):
Downers Grove South
Plainfield North
Huntley

 Division 2

1. Morton (169 points, 16 first-place votes)
2. Lincoln-Way West (141 points, 1 first-place vote)
3. Bloomington (132 points)
4. Dunlap (83 points)
5. Limestone Community (76 points)
6. Washington Community (76 points)
7. Lemont (58 points)
8. Effingham (24 points)
9. East Peoria (21 points)
10. Metamora (20 points)

Most Improved band(s):
Lincoln-Way West

Note: Limestone Community is 5th place in our balloting, receiving more 3rd place votes then Washington Community.
Division 3

1. Eureka (106 points, 10 first-place votes)
2. Murphysboro (73 points, 4 first-place votes)
3. Pontiac Township (70 points)
4. Illinois Valley Central (57 points, 1 first-place vote)
5. Geneseo (51 points)
6. Mahomet-Seymour (49 points, 1 first-place vote)
7. Prairie Central (43 points)
8. Macomb (36 points)

Other Bands receiving First Place Votes:
Herscher (1)

Most Improved Band(s) (tie:)
Eureka
Murphysboro

Division 4

1. Paxton-Buckley-Loda (73 points, 5 first-place votes)
2. Newton (65 points, 4 first-place votes)
3. Watseka Community (63 points, 3 first-place votes)
4. Tri-Valley (61 points, 4 first-place votes)
5. Atwood-Hammond (37 points)
6. ROWVA (28 points)
7. Blue Ridge (22 points)

Most Improved Band(s) (tie:)
Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Watseka Community

2009 Bands of the Year
2008 Bands of the Year
2006 Bands of the Year
2005 Bands of the Year
2004 Bands of the Year
2003 Bands of the Year
2002 Bands of the Year

(full article)