2017 Indianapolis Super Regional


Prelims Results
(View full recap here)

Class A
1. Lewis Cass H.S., IN
2. Edgewood H.S., IN
3. Paoli H.S., IN
Music: Lewis Cass H.S., IN
Visual: Lewis Cass H.S., IN
GE: Lewis Cass H.S., IN

Class AA
1. Marian Catholic H.S., IL
2. Greenwood Community H.S., IN
3. Beech Grove H.S., IN
Music: Marian Catholic H.S., IL
Visual: Marian Catholic H.S., IL
GE: Marian Catholic H.S., IL

Class AAA
1. Castle H.S., IN
2. Rosemount H.S., MN
3. Blue Springs South H.S., MO
Music: Castle H.S., IN
Visual: Castle H.S., IN
GE: Castle H.S., IN

Class AAAA
1. Avon H.S., IN
2. Carmel H.S., IN
3. Homestead H.S., IN
Music: Avon H.S., IN
Visual: Carmel H.S., IN
GE: Avon H.S., IN

Finals Results
(View full recap here)

1. (90.800) Carmel H.S., IN
2. (90.550) Avon H.S., IN
3. (88.375) Castle H.S., IN
4. (87.025) Union H.S., OK
5. (86.250) Homestead H.S., IN
6. (85.950) Marian Catholic H.S., IL
7. (84.850) Centerville H.S., OH
8. (83.425) Center Grove H.S., IN
9. (82.000) Rosemount H.S., MN
10. (81.400) Lakota East H.S., OH
11. (81.050) Lawrence Township, IN
12. (80.700) Fishers H.S., IN
13. (79.975) Blue Spgs. South H.S., MO
14. (78.950) Lincoln-Way H.S., IL

Music: Avon H.S., IN
Visual: Carmel H.S., IN
GE: Carmel H.S., IN

Returning 2016 Finalists (11):
1. Avon H.S., IN
2. Carmel H.S., IN
3. Homestead H.S., IN
4. Marian Catholic H.S., IL
6. Centerville H.S., OH
7. Castle H.S., IN
9. Center Grove H.S., IN
10. Lawrence Township, IN
11. Brownsburg H.S., IN
13. Fishers H.S., IN
14. Ben Davis H.S., IN

Previous Champions:
2016: Avon H.S., IN
2015: Avon H.S., IN
2014: Avon H.S., IN
2013: Carmel H.S., IN
2012: Avon H.S., IN
2011: Avon H.S., IN

States Represented (9):
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

The 2017 Indianapolis Super Regional will be held Oct. 20–21 at Lucas Oil Stadium. In 2016, Avon swept captions over Carmel in prelims and finals at Indy Super, just one week before tying Carmel at Grand Nats.

Instead of reading our opinions, try listening to them on the HornRank Podcast:


Analysis
This year’s Indy Super promises to be one of the most competitive yet. Not only are there a significant number of returning bands, there’s also several new bands switching from the St. Louis Super Regional.

The co-champions

Carmel (IN) performs at the Grand National Championships on Nov. 12, 2016, at Lucas Oil Stadium. The band was named national champion. // Photo by Jeremiah Wooten
With all the tying Avon and Carmel have been doing the past year, it would be nice to just pick both bands as our champion prediction. But regardless of who wins, the three week gap until Grand Nats ensures that these results are far from indicative of who will win Grand Nats. Both Avon and Carmel are part of a tier of bands who chart constant improvement through the end of the season, so the competition will get even more serious in the coming weeks.

Avon, Indiana: This will be the halfway point in Avon’s whirlwind BOA tour, and the band’s second of three head-to-head match-ups with Carmel. Avon began its season at the Canton Regional, earning first place and sweeping captions, before heading to the Dayton Regional, winning music and tying with Carmel for effect. The total score placed the band in second just a fraction of a point behind Carmel.

Carmel, Indiana: After winning the Dayton Regional, Carmel is in a good position, but their win was far from decisive, only winning the visual caption and tying the effect caption. This is Carmel’s chance to build on that margin and show the world they’re ready to defend their national champion title.

The hot shots

Union (OK) performs in exhibition at the Renegade Review on Oct. 14, 2017, at Union High School. // Photo by Jeremiah Wooten.
Castle, Homestead, and Union are the three main competitors for the bronze medal.

Castle, Indiana: Coming off their first appearance in Grand National finals, Castle showed they’re certainly looking to make finals again while at the Clarksville Regional just a few weeks ago. The band placed first with a solid margin over Franklin.

Homestead, Indiana: There are very few bands who have defeated William Mason in recent years, but Homestead was added to that list after the Toledo Regional earlier this season. It’s still unclear, however, whether that result was more revealing about Mason or Homestead, but we think it was a little bit of both. While they might step down in placement from last year’s third place finish, it will certainly be a step up in the level of performance

Union, Oklahoma: We’re obviously very optimistic about Union’s show this season, but for a reason: it’s a good one. The band has yet to compete at a BOA event, but won the Owasso Invitational with a nearly 5-point margin earlier this season. Of course, there’s a lot of uncertainty around Union, and they could certainly place as low as eighth or ninth just because of the sheer intensity of this year’s event.

The unknowns but definitely finals locks

Marian Catholic performs at the Grand National Championships on Nov. 12, 2016, at Lucas Oil Stadium. // Photo by Jeremiah Wooten
We could probably just put every other band in a category called “unknowns” because there are so many things we’re not sure how to predict. But specifically Center Grove, Centerville, Lawrence Township, Marian Catholic, and Rosemount are five groups we know we’ll see in finals but really have no clue where in finals they’ll place.

Center Grove, Indiana: This band has always been near the top of Indiana bands, but it’s hard to place Center Grove this year because we don’t have much information about their early-season performances. We do, however, know that they were really good at ISSMA Regionals this weekend. Some might even say they were two good, but we still expect them to place behind Castle and Homestead here at Indy Super.

Centerville, Ohio: In what was probably the biggest shocker of last season, Centerville missed semifinals at Grand Nats, despite placing higher than national finalist Castle at Indy Super just a week prior. Expect to see them back in finals and pushing for semis again this year.

Lawrence Township, Indiana: The Marching Pride has seemed to settle into their groove following the merger of competition bands between Lawrence Central and Lawrence North. It wasn’t an easy process to combine two bands, but we’re curious to see how it pays off and how that larger talent pool of both students and staff can help push LT.

Marian Catholic, Illinois: Of course Marian Catholic will be in finals. Now, with how early Indy Super is, it’s likely they place a bit lower than usual, maybe even bottom half, but they’ll work their way up to a national finalist position in the remaining weeks before Grand Nats.

Rosemount, Minnesota: Making the jump from St. Louis to Indy this year, Rosemount will be competing against an almost entirely different lineup of bands for the first time in several years. A top half spot is not out of the question, but they will certainly be in finals.

The toss-ups

There are quite a few open spots this year. Open not because there aren’t returning finalists, but open because those returning finalists are going to have to improve even more to remain in finals.

Ben Davis, Indiana: With a current finals streak of six consecutive appearances, Ben Davis is not new to super regional finals, but it’ll take more than a normal year’s performance to make the cut this year.

Brownsburg, Indiana: This band really stepped their game up last year earning a finalist spot at Indy Super and also earning a spot in Indiana State Finals. Brownsburg will be looking to build upon that success but against a pretty difficult pool of bands.

Columbus North, Indiana: After taking a break from Indy Super last year to attend Grand Nats, Columbus North is back and ready to build on their national semifinals appearance.

Eden Prairie, Minnesota: One of Rosemount's biggest competitors in Minnesota, Eden Prairie is certainly in the running for a spot. The band barely missed finals at last year’s St. Louis Super Regional, but Indy Super could be an even tougher competition this year.

Fishers, Indiana: Last year was Fisher’s first time competing at a super regional since 2012, and they sure reestablished their name. But with more competitive groups than ever in attendance this year, they’ll have to improve even more to remain in finals.

Lockport Township, Illinois: After earning second at the Canton Regional, Lockport has been receiving a lot of hype from forum-dwellers and general band nerds. While it would be sad to see their streak of consistent 18th place finishes at Indy Super come to an end, a finals appearance is certainly a good way to break that streak.

The outsiders and long shots

With 16 groups already in the discussion for finalist and bubble status, there are several other bands that will have a harder road to making finals this year than they may have had in the past.

Blue Springs South, Missouri: The band has made some steady improvement competing at regional events the last few years, and made a super regional appearance at St. Louis last year. Unfortunately, all these super regionals are getting tougher every year.

Lakota East, Ohio: A third-place finish at Dayton gave Lakota East a bit of good attention and earns them some serious consideration for super regional finals. Maybe not this year, but consistent improvement could earn them a spot in the future.

Lincoln-Way, Illinois: This is the second year of existence for Lincoln-Way and as such, it’s hard to predict what their newly expand pool of talent and staff will be able to pull off. A finals appearance is not impossible, but most likely, we will see an improvement from last season.

Penn, Indiana: In 2015, the band was first out of finals at Indy Super, but the event has become much more competitive since then and Penn’s ninth-place finish at Dayton just isn’t enough to predict them in finals.

Predictions
1. Carmel H.S., IN
2. Avon H.S., IN
3. Union H.S., OK
4. Castle H.S., IN
5. Homestead H.S., IN
6. Marian Catholic H.S., IL
7. Center Grove H.S., IN
8. Rosemount H.S., MN
9. Centerville H.S., OH
10. Lawrence Township, IN
11. Columbus North H.S., IN
12. Lockport Township H.S., IL
13. Ben Davis H.S., IN
14. Brownsburg H.S., IN

Adjudication Panel
Prelims Music: Mark Calima, Jeremy Earnhart, Jodie Rhodes, and Jeremy Spicer.
Prelims Visual: Marie Czapinski, Jackie Gilley, and John Howell.
Finals Music: Gino Cipriani, Nola Jones, Rick Rodriguez, and Ken Turner.
Finals Visual: William Chumley, Curtis Costanza, and Bruce Jones.
Chief: Gary Markham.