Comps of the Week Recap: 2/21/26

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

Franklin Central held serve at Center Grove, Clinton cleaned up at Jackson Prep, Westside sang their way to the top at Omaha South and Bloomington Kennedy continued its 2026 tear.

Center Grove Best of the Midwest

Large Mixed: 1^st) Franklin Central “FC Singers” (BV) 2^nd) North Central “Counterpoints” 3^rd) Oak Mountain “Singers” (BC)

Small Mixed: 1^st) Roncalli “Royal Rhapsody” (BV/BC) 2^nd) New Palestine “Crimson Heat” 3^rd) Franklin Central “Encores”

Large Womens: 1^st) Franklin Central “High Voltage” (BV/BC) 2^nd) Fishers “Sound” 3^rd) Oak Mountain “The Muses”

Small Womens: 1^st) Winfield “Emerald Elegance” (BV/BC) 2^nd) Cathedral “Irish Adrenaline” 3^rd) New Palestine “Diamond Sensations”

This competition more or less reinforced a couple of widely-held beliefs in the show choir community: Indiana groups can sing at some of the top levels in the country, and southern groups can dance at some of the best levels in the country. Franklin Central took its second win of the season but first Best Vocals caption of 2026. North Central continued its resurgence this season, scoring a quality second place. Oak Mountain took choreography without winning for the first time since 2021; their appearance at BOM went much better than their trip to Franklin Central in 2022. The other three division winners all led with both vocals and choreography. Roncalli took down New Palestine for the second weekend in a row, and the Franklin Central Encores outplaced four other groups to snag a podium in small mixed. High Voltage took its second division win this season in three competitions, toppling Fishers Sound for the first time in five years to do so. Sound, in turn, outscored Muses, widely regarded as a top-shelf womens ensemble in the south. In small womens, Winfield drove back to West Virginia with all of the hardware, as Emerald Elegance defeated Cathedral, who closes their season with a division win and three runner-up placements.

Jackson Prep Show Choir Masters

Final Results

GC: Clinton “Attaché” (BV/BC/Show Design)

1RU: Brandon “Brio”

2RU: Tupelo “Synergy”

3RU: Madison Central “Reveille”

4RU: Brandon “Bellas”

Clinton is in vintage form. Attaché dominated the field in their first appearance at Masters, completing the regional portion of their competition season before heading to Chatham, Ill. on Mar. 7. Brandon notched second, cementing themselves as “best in class in Mississippi” behind Clinton. Tupelo, also making its first appearance at Masters, landed on the podium. Synergy will next head to HOA Nashville, where the womens groups have their own finals. Madison Central has been fourth at both of their contests this season against formidable competition. Reveille has now put together a solid nine-competition finals/placement streak at regional competitions dating back to 2024. Brandon Bellas slipped into the finals round over Northeast Jones. Bellas has been in the overall top five at all three of their southern appearances this season. Northwest Rankin was a late drop from the competition, eliminating one mixed contender from the finals conversation and leaving Tupelo and Bellas to fight alone in the womens division.

South Omaha Classic

Final Results

GC: Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir” (BV)

1RU: Millard West “West in the Groove” (BC/BB)

2RU: Millard North “Infinity”

3RU: Lincoln East “Express”

4RU: Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”

5RU: Grand Island “Ultimate Image”

One of Nebraska’s longest-running and greatest matchups was renewed on Saturday, and like many occasions, it was very close between ATSC and WIG. While Millard West came out on top of their 2025 matchup, this time it was Westside. Ironically, the groups scored the same captions they did last season at Hastings – ATSC with vocals, WIG with choreo and band – but this time the result was different. Millard North rounded out a solid season with a podium, their fourth top-three finish of the year. Lincoln East evened the score on Papio South from earlier this year, as Express previously placed two spots behind Titanium at Gretna in January. The two will see each other in two weeks time at Lewis Central to complete the season for both ensembles, and that matchup should be intriguing. Grand Island rounded out the finals field with their “Survivor”-themed show. It was a quality finals appearance for Ultimate Image, who has done well in central Nebraska contests this year but missed finals in a loaded Lincoln East contest in January.

Wildcard: Hastings Swingin’ on the River

Final Results

GC: Bloomington Kennedy “Rhythm in Gold” (BV/BC)

1RU: Waconia “Power Company” (BB)

2RU: Bloomington Jefferson “Jefferson Connection”

3RU: Bemidji “Vocalmotive”

4RU: Bloomington Jefferson “JIVE”

5RU: North St. Paul “Northern Lights”

Bloomington Kennedy is on a tear this year, with RIG taking home the win in three of its four competition appearances so far. The massive choir did so in convincing fashion at Hastings, taking both vocals and choreo. Waconia nabbed its third runner-up finish of the season, but the first one to a choir not named De Pere. Both Kennedy and Waconia will head to South Dakota this weekend, squaring off against Mitchell, Elkhorn South and Aberdeen at O’Gorman. Bloomington Jefferson’s groups were third and fifth; it was Connection’s third podium of the season and JIVE’s second finals appearance of the season. The last time JIVE made multiple finals in a year? 2012. Bemidji improved upon its 2025 showing at Hastings by two spots and will be the choir to beat at Totino-Grace on Mar. 7. North St. Paul grabbed its second finals appearance of the season in its first Hastings appearance since 2022. Northern Lights will be in contention for a third finals berth at Totino in two weeks.

With another 30+ competitions on the horizon this upcoming weekend, Comps of the Week will have the best of them to preview later this week!