Waconia Takes the Gold at Bloomington Kennedy

By Quinn Masek, Siouxland Contributor

Sparta Upstage Adrenaline performs at Onalaska earlier this season. PHOTO: Derrick Knight / Knight Images

PoCo broke through for their maiden win of the season, plus Hastings improved on their previous results and Bloomington Jefferson emerged as a legitimate contender.

Womens Division

1st: Sparta “Rise of Adrenaline”

2nd: Hastings “Dynamic Edition”

3rd: Bloomington Jefferson “JIVE”

This win makes four in a row for Rise of Adrenaline. Sparta’s womens group has been good in their division for the last few years, but here is where they really shined, beating Dynamic Edition, who won their division a few weeks ago at Linn-Mar. A special shoutout goes to JIVE for following up the previous weekend's 5fifth-place finish by making it onto the podium here, beating groups from Waconia, Bemidji and Totino-Grace.

Final Results

GC: Waconia “Power Company” (BC)

1RU: Hastings “Riverside Company (BV/BB)

2RU: Bloomington Jefferson “Jefferson Connection”

3RU: Sparta “Upstage Adrenaline”

4RU: Bemidji “Vocalmotive”

5RU: Sparta “Rise of Adrenaline”

Rise of Adrenaline actually did so well in prelims that they beat Totino-Grace and North St. Paul, securing a spot in finals. If things go their way, Rise of Adrenaline also has the opportunity to make finals at Eau Claire Memorial this upcoming weekend.

Vocalmotive placed the exact same as they did last year at this competition. Luckily, this was their first competition of the season, so they still have plenty of time to improve their show and maybe end up on the podium at a future competition.

After beating Onalaska early in the season, Upstage Adrenaline has been just shy of the podium since. This was a tough competition for Upstage Adrenaline, as their show was full of energy and effort, but other groups did a little bit more.

After winning the previous weekend at Altoona, Jefferson Connection managed to place in the top three at Kennedy. The placement put Jefferson in the conversation, and there is clearly room to grow. If Jefferson Connection polishes off their show and cleans up their choreography, they could maybe win another Grand Champion trophy later this season.

If there’s one thing that always stays the same, it’s that Riverside Company has powerful vocals. Having some of the highest highs of the entire day, this was a step up from their performance at Linn-Mar, as Hastings claimed Best Vocals at this competition for the fourth year in a row.

The only word to really describe Power Company is intense. Every single person on stage is in the moment and giving it their all. Waconia lost to De Pere twice earlier in the season, but tightened up their bootstraps and pulled off a tight victory against Hastings. Next Waconia hosts in two weeks before traveling to Hastings to compete against Bloomington Kennedy, determining who the best show choir is in Minnesota.