By Arte Reed and Quinn Masek, Iowa and Siouxland Contributors
What. A. Competition. Urbandale hosted six top-tier groups this past weekend. Three were within the Des Moines metro and three made the journey from out of state. Each group performed their absolute best in an attempt to take home the gold.
9th Grade Division
1st: Johnston Middle "Sound Advice"
2nd: Waukee Timberline "Inferno"
These two groups are the future of Johnston and Waukee as they move up into the high schools. Waukee Timberline brought their best to this competition; however, Sound Advice was the better show. Johnston Middle placed third overall at Norwalk on Feb. 8, so it was no surprise that they brought the same energy here.
Womens Division
1st: Millard West "Uptown"
2nd: Broken Arrow "Tiger Mystique"
3rd: Johnston "Bella Voce"
This womens division highlights the out of state groups - Millard West and Broken Arrow - along with Johnston from the Des Moines metro. All three of these groups were coming off division wins at their last competition. Additionally, Uptown and Tiger Mystique made finals at those competitions, placing sixth and fourth, respectively. The results from Urbandale highlighted the quality of all three regions. Bella Voce, while a strong contender, placed third against the well-established programs from Nebraska and Oklahoma. Tiger Mystique took the audience to Wonderland, and despite their strong vocals, they placed second. Uptown had improved their fashion-fun show for Urbandale, and placed as the Grand Champion in the treble division.
Prep Division
1st: Johnston "Synergy"
2nd: Waukee "Spirit"
3rd: Millard West "Swing Cats"
4th: Waukee Northwest "Aurora"
Iowa took this division in full force. Millard West had already seen what Iowa prep groups look like when they faced Valley at Westside. They made sure to come prepared for the three groups they faced at Urbandale. They beat Waukee Northwest, a group that had been in tough fights against Linn-Mar, Urbandale, and Johnston. Waukee had placed first in the prep division at two competitions, but swapped with Ankeny Perpetual Motion during finals at Ankeny Centennial. They came into Urbandale with strong expectations and placed second. Johnston Synergy was crowned prep champion for the sixth time in a row at Urbandale. They have held the trophy since 2020 and have yet to lose their streak.
Final Awards
Grand Champion: Johnston “Innovation” (BV/BC)
1st Runner Up: Waukee “Millennium”
2nd Runner Up: Mitchell “Friend de Coup”
3rd Runner Up: Millard West “West in the Groove”
4th Runner Up: Waukee Northwest “Eos”
5th Runner Up: Broken Arrow “Tiger Rhythm” (BB)
As an obvious footnote, this competition's finals was incredibly stacked and impressive. Each group absolutely brought it on stage, and sixth place at this competition is first by a wide margin at many other competitions.
Tiger Rhythm told a story about three siblings making a deal with death itself. The show had debatably some of the hardest choreography of the day and incredibly powerful vocals. Tiger Rhythm also won the Best Band award at this competition.
Eos placed fifth at this competition, the lowest placement in the program's history. Eos also placed third in the daytime but was pushed back in finals. Despite that, this was easily the best version of Eos’s show this season so far, complete with so many standout vocal moments.
This is also the lowest West in the Groove has placed since 2019, where they placed sixth at Glenwood in Illinois. Despite that, they showed that Nebraska groups shouldn’t be underestimated at the Iowa competition.
After losing to WIG a couple weeks back at Westside, Mitchell came back strong. It’s good to see that despite a director change, Friend de Coup is in good hands. They had a simpler show than others at the event, but their performance sold it and even won the group Best Show Design. There could also be an argument that FDC was in the running for Best Band.
The top two did not change between the daytime and finals. This is the first time Millennium and Eos have competed against each other, and while more people expected Eos to win the Waukee clash, Millennium proved that they were not to be underestimated. After an early season that perhaps left a few lingering questions, Millennium answered them all at Urbandale.
After being beaten by Eos at Linn-Mar earlier this season, Innovation got to work and showed everyone why they are one of the best groups in the area. Taking Best Vocals and Best Choreography, Innovation made serious changes between the middle of January and the middle of February. As it turns out, these changes were enough to win them the competition.
Where are the top six going next? Four of the six groups will be taking a bye week and will be back into the competition on March 1. Broken Arrow will be traveling 712 miles to Totino-Grace on March 1. Waukee Northwest and Mitchell will have a rematch, competing alongside an upstart Sioux City East at Bishop Heelan on March 1. Millard West will be at Hastings, Minn. on February 22 along with a two other top tier Nebraska groups. Waukee will be staying within Iowa, competing at Liberty on March 1st. Finally, Johnston will be traveling to Nebraska and will be competing at Omaha South this upcoming weekend.
Photo Credit: @asm.jpeg on Instagram
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