Comps of the Week Recap: 2/7/26

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

Ankeny Centennial stayed undefeated, West Jones pulled off a gigantic upset, Gretna dominated, and middle mixed at Fishers exceeded all expectations.

Fishers Silver Spotlight Show Choir Invitational

The Results

Large Mixed: 1^st) Center Grove “Sound System” (BV/BC) 2^nd) Noblesville “NHS Singers” (BB) 3^rd) Lawrence North “Legacy”

Medium Mixed: 1^st) Ben Davis “Premiers” (BV) 2^nd) Columbus North “Vocal Pointe” (BB) 3^rd) Pendleton Heights “Pendletones” (BC)

Large Womens: 1^st) Center Grove “Debtones” (BV/BC) 2^nd) Lawrence North “Bella Bravada” 3^rd) Noblesville “New Dimension” (BB)

Medium Womens: 1^st) Pendleton Heights “Emerald Suites” (BV/BC) 2^nd) Center Grove “Accents” (BB) 3^rd) Franklin Community “Sensations”

The large mixed division at Silver Spotlight largely went chalk, with the Lawrences renewing their competition for another season and North coming out ahead of Central. The real juice came in medium mixed. In what was billed as a tight battle, a three-way caption split proved the competitiveness of the division. Ben Davis, an outfit that competes in large mixed at ISSMA comps but was in middle mixed here due to group size, took the division win on the strength of their singing. Columbus North, who is in the midst of a bit of an unheralded breakout season, factored right into the mix, taking the band caption and having a balanced enough show to place second without taking vocals or choreo. Pendleton Heights, in their first outing of the season after backing out of Edgewood, took the final podium placement, although Pendletones’ victory in the choreography category means that they will again be a force in ISSMA small divisions. In large womens, Lawrence North came out swinging to start the season, scoring a solid second place for that ensemble.

Oak Mountain King of the Mountain Invitational

Final Results

GC: West Jones “Imagination” (BV)

1RU: Homewood “The Network” (BC)

2RU: Spain Park “Rhapsody in Blue”

3RU: Madison Central “Reveille”

4RU: Auburn “Varsity Singers”

The mix of groups attending promised intrigue of some kind, but few imagined that a group other than Homewood or Auburn would leave with the biggest trophy of the evening. West Jones did the (almost) unthinkable and parlayed a middle mixed division win in prelims into an overall grand championship, outlasting all of the large mixed players. The last time Homewood placed second, they won seven consecutive competitions after that, so all is not lost for The Network by any means. Two weeks after taking the win at Hoover, Spain Park entered the thick of their season and showed that Rhapsody in Blue is perhaps the newest power player in Alabama, outpacing in-state blue blood Auburn. Madison Central made their first Alabama appearance since Jasper in 2023 and proved themselves, putting themselves in the regional large mixed discussion as well. Auburn was second in large mixed prelims and slid in finals, but Varsity Singers still has plenty of mojo heading into a tough Homewood competition this weekend. Notable finals misses included Homewood Continuum, Vestavia Hills and Tift County.

Waukee Northwest Nightfall

Final Results

GC: Ankeny Centennial “Spectrum” (BV/BC)

1RU: Urbandale “Studio”

2RU: Waukee “Millennium” (BB)

3RU: Iowa City “4^th Avenue Jazz Company”

4RU: Ankeny Centennial “Vortex”

5RU: Ankeny Centennial “Eternal Rush”

Is there really that much difference between lighthouses and swans? Spectrum took its third vocals/choreo win of the season, hearkening back to its undefeated 2020 campaign with the Swan Lake show. It wasn’t necessarily close, either, as Centennial had a decent lead in prelims points and then secured first-place votes from six of the seven judges in finals. In contrast, Studio and Millennium were incredibly close all contest long, with the groups separated by 1.5 points in prelims and then splitting votes in finals. 4AJC, a constant competitor at Nightfall since the event’s genesis in 2023, scored a solid fourth to pass the halfway point of its six-contest season. Vortex and Eternal Rush rounded out the finals field for Ankeny Centennial, putting three groups from the program in finals. Ironically, that was not the only time the feat happened in Iowa on Saturday, as Bishop Heelan put its three groups first-third-fourth at Sioux Center.

Wildcard: Papillion-La Vista South Titan Classic

Final Results

GC: Gretna “Revolution” (BV/BC)

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

2RU: Mitchell “Friend de Coup”

3RU: Papillion-La Vista “Free Spirit”

4RU: Gretna “Evolution”

5RU: Millard West “Uptown”

Gretna as a program had a statement outing at STC, taking big wins in both divisions they had groups competing in. Revolution took care of business and snatched both vocals and choreo away from Millard West and Mitchell, making a strong case for the title of Best Show Choir in Nebraska. Additionally, Evolution outpaced Millard West Swing Cats for the win in the prep division and then outpaced Millard West Uptown in finals, coming away as the highest-placing non-varsity group on the day. The wins could not come at a better time for Gretna, as they will travel to a packed Chesterton event against more national-caliber competition. WIG will also see strong competition next, facing Westside, Papio South, Millard North and Lincoln East at Omaha South. FDC now has a second and third on its resume; the choir will take a week off this week, host Classic on Feb. 21 and compete at O’Gorman on Feb. 28, their first in-state appearance since Sioux Falls Washington in 2022.

The latest show choir circuits to start will be in action on Feb. 14, making for one of the busiest weekends of the season. Comps of the Week will preview all of the best action!