This last Saturday brought us yet another great regional from the East Coast, this time from the state of Virginia. This show marks the last eastern show of the season, as we're quickly bringing this season to a close. Naturally, this show at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA gives us our last look at some of these great bands before Grand Nationals takes place in just a few short weeks. 

Your Regional Finalists

Our first finalist group hailed from John Champe H.S., VA and earned a final score of 72.90. This AAAA ensemble also earned 3rd in their class during prelims. This was a 0.15 improvement over their last score a few weeks ago at the Mid-Atlantic regional back on October 5th. 

Next up in finals placement came something exciting: a tie! And not just any tie, but a three-way tie! Cary Senior H.S. (NC), Hickory H.S. (VA), and Boiling Springs H.S. (SC) all earned an even score of 77.00. Each of these groups each had major strengths, but none was enough to truly pull ahead of the other ensembles. Even looking at the prelims recap, these three AAA bands were even across the board and everyone brought their best into finals. 

In sixth place, we had Bassett H.S. (VA) who earned an 80.05 in finals competition. Bassett had previously earned first in AA competition earlier in the day, along with the GE and Music caption awards. Both Panther Creek H.S. (NC) and Green Hope H.S. (NC) had incredible showings this weekend with Green Hope pushing slightly ahead at the end of the night. Panther Creek's final score of 82.55 was just 0.25 points away from Green Hope's 82.80. 

Now, let's talk about our top three. Third place overall went to James Madison H.S. (VA) with their score of 84.25. In second overall came Cleveland H.S., (NC) with a score of 86.80. Cleveland is walking away from the Virginia Regional Championship with the Outstanding General Effect award. Rounding out our finalists and earning the top spot in Lynchburg was Dobyns-Bennett H.S., TN with a score of 87.55. Dobyns-Bennett also took home two of the major captions: Outstanding Music Performance and Outstanding Visual Performance. If you take a look at the prelims standings for AAA ensembles, you'll notice none of the placement has changed. Even the caption awards went to the same groups. 

Prelims Stand-Outs

The first two groups out of finals were incredibly close to making the cutoff. The 11th place group, Rocky Ridge H.S. (VA) came in with a score of 75.75 just 0.40 away from finals placement. And just behind them were Thomas Jefferson H.S. for Science & Technology (VA) with a score of 75.35. 

Overall the day was full of incredible performances from bands up and down the coast. We'll be looking forward to seeing some of these shows at Grand Nationals in just a few weeks.