Dan Balash

For what competition? 😕

They're going to the BOA perspective that appreciation of arts is subjective and they don't want people's expectations to be based on a class. What I wish could happen is a thoroughly random draw with one awards ceremony, but that's impossible with the way the schedule is set for finals with the 1A champion going on in the first few bands.

I mean, it's tough, and really, no system is perfect. Do we go to a top 12 or top 14 or top 15 scores overall, and any class representatives that don't make it perform in exhibition? No, because that would be the 1A representative every year. Keep in mind, that prelims used to be 2 separate shows: 1A-4A and 5A-6A, with 7 bands from each. With 4 automatic qualifiers from 1A-4A, that made it that much more difficult, and 2A had 2 representatives in finals only twice: Lincoln-Way West (twice) and Limestone Community (once). If 2018-2024 used the previous setup, only 2024 with Galesburg would have 2+ representatives from 1A-2A.

ISU breakdowns by my best guess. Note: Marian has requested for years to play up a class, so Galesburg moves down into 2A. Is Plainfield Central doing the same? Nevertheless, based on enrollment, Collinsville moves from 5A to 4A. 1A: El Paso-Gridley 361 Prairie Central 488 Herscher 518 Eureka 521 Paris Cooperative 548 University 625 Illinois Valley Central 636 Macomb 655 2A: Pontiac Township 661 Effingham 713 Streator Township 771 East Peoria 820 Limestone Community 892 Morton 1078 LaSalle-Peru 1197 Galesburg 1232 3A (going with a 5 band 3A, 4 band 4A): Marian Catholic 744 Mascoutah 1249 Lemont 1289 Bloomington 1327 Washington Community 1445 4A: Batavia 1654 Maine West 1851 Romeoville 1875 Collinsville 1995 5A: (going with an 8 band 5A, 9 band 6A) Plainfield Central 1822 DeKalb 2030 Prospect 2174 Victor J. Andrew 2227 McHenry 2249 Mundelein 2288 Plainfield North 2377 Edwardsville 2360 6A: Downers Grove South 2598 O'Fallon Township 2561 Oswego East 2722 Huntley 2771 Carl Sandburg 2807 Oswego 2913 Joliet West 3415 Warren Township 3472 Normal 3650

Grayslake schedule:

Marching Panther Invitational 2025 Recap by Class.pdf WCHS Inv 2025 RECAP 2025 RANK ORDER.pdf

Stagg recap: https://recaps.competitionsuite.com/5090dc1d-a454-48de-a8f6-77cfb4e88a75.htm

Recap: https://recaps.competitionsuite.com/38756c4f-a65d-4d36-83bc-9c20c32893a6.htm

Morton beat O’Fallon by 2 points at Greater St. Louis in 2022, and were pretty close to them at Nationals that year as well. https://ilmarching.com/festivals_detail.php?FestivalID=1126

Illinois State list of bands and judges: Session A (Class 1A and 2A) East Peoria Community Effingham El Paso Gridley Eureka Galesburg Herscher Illinois Valley Central LaSalle-Peru Township Limestone Community Macomb Morton Paris Pontiac Township Prairie Central Streator University Session B (Class 3A and 4A) Batavia Bloomington Collinsville Lemont Maine West Marian Catholic Mascoutah Romeoville Washington Community Session C (Class 5A and 6A) Carl Sandburg DeKalb Downers Grove South Edwardsville Joliet West McHenry Community Mundelein O'Fallon Township Oswego East Oswego Plainfield Central Plainfield North Prospect Huntley Normal Victor J. Andrew Warren Township 2025 Judging Panel Richard Saucedo, Chief Judge Ed Argenziano, Music Judge Andy Cook, Music Judge Bryan Crisp, Music Judge Tom Dean, Music Judge Beth Fabrizio, Music Judge Todd Fox, Music Judge Gerry Miller, Music Judge Bryen Warfield, Music Judge Doug Casteen, Visual Judge Shannon Clark, Visual Judge John Howell, Visual Judge Bruce Jones, Visual Judge Randy Nelson, Visual Judge Juno Orefice, Visual Judge

Carlyle added in 1A at 10:45 at MEMC; Timberland, MO added at 4:15 in 3A, everyone in 3A moved back 15 minutes, everyone in 4A moved back 30 minutes from their original start times.

Marian Catholic will become the second band to win National Class Champion across 3 separate classes. It should have happened last year, but I digress. We might see a first time winner at ISU. Will be close. We might see more bands calling it quits on competing after this year. There is a possibility we could see 4 Illinois groups in semifinals at Nationals: Marian, Morton, O’Fallon, and quite possibly Edwardsville.

From my cruise ship in Alaska: Lake Park: A: Wheaton Warrenville South AA: Lake Central, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Naperville Central wins it. Lake Central is no where near where they used to be. AAA: Prospect Grand Champion: Prospect Washington: 1A: Watseka 2A: Rock Falls 3A: Eureka 4A: East Peoria 5A: Joliet West 6A: La-Salle Peru 7A: IVC 8A: Morton Stagg: 1A: Eisenhower 2A: VJA 3A: Plainfield Central

The season is upon us! Feel free to make your predictions below! A.A. Stagg Jamboree: Palos Hills, IL Class 1A 3:00 PM: Bloom Township 3:15 PM: Wheeling 3:30 PM: Argo 3:45 PM: Richards 4:00 PM: Kaneland 4:15 PM: Dwight D. Eisenhower 4:30 PM: Break Class 2A 4:45 PM: Plainfield East 5:00 PM: Carl Sandburg 5:15 PM: Grayslake Central 5:30 PM: Victor J. Andrew 5:50 PM: Awards Class 3A 6:45 PM: Reavis 7:00 PM: Plainfield Central 7:15 PM: Oak Park/River Forest 7:30 PM: Romeoville Exb 7:45 PM: A.A. Stagg 8:05 PM: Marching Illini 8:25 PM: Awards Lake Park Lancer Joust: Roselle, IL Class 1A 5:00 PM: Glenbrook North 5:15 PM: Wheaton Warrenville South 5:30 PM: H.D. Jacobs 5:45 PM: Break Class 2A 6:00 PM: Maine West 6:15 PM: Naperville Central 6:30 PM: Lake Central, IN 6:45 PM: Break Class 3A 7:00 PM: John Hersey 7:15 PM: Plainfield North 7:30 PM: Prospect Exb 7:45 PM: Lake Park 8:05 PM: Awards Washington Marching Panther Invitational: Washington, IL Class 1A 12:16 PM: Dwight Township 12:30 PM: Olympia 12:44 PM: Farmington 12:58 PM: Watseka Community Class 2A 1:12 PM: Monmouth-Roseville 1:26 PM: Richwoods 1:40 PM: Rock Falls 1:54 PM: Tri-Valley 2:08 PM: Break Class 3A 2:18 PM: Eureka 2:32 PM: Pontiac Township 2:46 PM: Metamora Class 4A 3:00 PM: United Township 3:14 PM: East Peoria 3:28 PM: Dunlap Class 5A 3:42 PM: Joliet West 3:56 PM: Champaign Central Exb 4:10 PM: Washington Community 4:25 PM: Awards Class 6A 6:32 PM: LaSalle-Peru 6:46 PM: El Paso-Gridley 7:00 PM: Morris Community 7:14 PM: Kewanee Class 7A 7:28 PM: Canton 7:42 PM: Limestone Community 7:56 PM: Illinois Valley Central 8:10 PM: Break Class 8A 8:18 PM: Galesburg 8:32 PM: Normal 8:46 PM: Morton Exb 9:00 PM: Washington Community 9:15 PM: Awards

Feel free to make your predictions here! Chicagoland Marching Band Festival: Wheeling, IL Class 1A 6:30 PM: William Howard Taft 6:45 PM: Dwight D. Eisenhower Class 2A 7:00 PM: Crystal Lake South 7:15 PM: Leyden 7:30 PM: Lake Park 7:45 PM: Break Class 2A 8:00 PM: Buffalo Grove 8:15 PM: Rolling Meadows 8:30 PM: Break Class 3A 8:45 PM: John Hersey 9:00 PM: Greendale, WI 9:15 PM: Prospect 9:30 PM: Davenport Central, IA Exb 9:45 PM: Wheeling 10:00 PM: Awards Limestone Marching Rockets Field Competition: Bartonville, IL Class 1A 3:30 PM: Morrison 3:45 PM: Ridgeview 4:00 PM: Tri-Valley 4:15 PM: Break Class 2A 4:30 PM: Sandwich 4:45 PM: Monmouth-Roseville 5:00 PM: ROWVA 5:15 PM: Break 5:45 PM: Awards Class 3A 6:00 PM: Dunlap 6:15 PM: East Peoria 6:30 PM: Pekin Community 6:45 PM: Canton 7:00 PM: Break Class 4A 7:15 PM: United Township 7:30 PM: Geneseo 7:45 PM: Washington Community Exb 8:00 PM: Limestone Community 8:30 PM: Awards Metro East Marching Classic: O'Fallon, IL Class 1A 11:00 AM: Windsor 11:15 AM: Effingham 11:30 AM: Civic Memorial 11:45 AM: Mater Dei Class 2A 12:00 PM: Rockwood Summit, MO 12:15 PM: Hillsboro, MO 12:30 PM: Mascoutah Exb 12:45 PM: OTHS & Middle School Band 1:15 PM: Racer Drumline 1:40 PM: Awards Class 3A 4:15 PM: Alton 4:30 PM: Fort Zumwalt West, MO 4:45 PM: Lafayette, MO 5:00 PM: Granite City 5:15 PM: Francis Howell Central, MO 5:30 PM: Fort Zumwalt North, MO 5:45 PM: Break Class 4A 6:00 PM: Collinsville 6:15 PM: Belleville East 6:30 PM: Lindbergh, MO 6:45 PM: Edwardsville Exb 7:00 PM: O'Fallon Township 7:15 PM: Racer Drumline 7:30 PM: Awards Victor J. Andrew High School Marching Invitational: Tinley Park, IL Note: No schedule available yet; list of competing bands below. Class 1A A.A. Stagg Bloom Township Huntley LaPorte, IN Lemont Providence Catholic Class 2A Downers Grove South Glenbrook South Lake Central, IN Plainfield South Warren Township Wheaton North Class 3A Davenport Central, IA Marian Catholic Oswego East Plainfield North Romeoville Yorkville Exb Victor J. Andrew Murphysboro Drums at Appletime: Murphysboro, IL No schedule available yet Pontiac Indian Showdown: Pontiac, IL No schedule available yet Sage City Invitational: Monticello, IL No schedule available yet North Knights Marching Festival: Grayslake, IL (September 14) No schedule available yet

Schedules for Lake Park, Limestone, IVC and CMBF are posted.

A bit of personal news: I will be on vacation from 8/28 to 9/11 with no access to the part of the site where everything gets posted to the database. I will try and post scores/schedule updates from my phone, but no guarantees on connectivity/availability. I will reach out to directors for schedules and hopefully get as much as possible posted today and tomorrow.

Washington & Stagg schedules posted.

Made a slew of updates, including lists of competing bands at VJA, Metamora, EIU, Edwardsville, BOA Iowa, BOA Indianapolis, BOA St. Louis, Grand Nationals, schedule for MEMC, BOA Louisville.

Metro East Marching Classic Schedule as of 7/28: Class 1A 11:00 AM: Windsor 11:15 AM: Effingham 11:30 AM: Civic Memorial 11:45 AM: Mater Dei Class 2A 12:00 PM: Rockwood Summit, MO 12:15 PM: Hillsboro, MO 12:30 PM: Mascoutah Exb 12:45 PM: OTHS & Middle School Band 1:15 PM: Racer Drumline 1:40 PM: Awards Class 3A 4:15 PM: Alton 4:30 PM: Fort Zumwalt West, MO 4:45 PM: Lafayette, MO 5:00 PM: Granite City 5:15 PM: Francis Howell Central, MO 5:30 PM: Fort Zumwalt North, MO 5:45 PM: Break Class 4A 6:00 PM: Collinsville 6:15 PM: Belleville East 6:30 PM: Lindbergh, MO 6:45 PM: Edwardsville Exb 7:00 PM: O'Fallon Township 7:15 PM: Racer Drumline 7:30 PM: Awards

Other than the BOA Louisville schedule dropping today, nothing really affecting Illinois groups yet.

According to IHSA's school directory website, Olympia has hired Kevin Greene, who used to be at MacArthur.

Matthew Chesner has been hired at Alton.