The end of the Texas competition season saw another triumphant outing for the Keller Blue Lights, who opened and closed the Texas season with big wins.
High School Final Results
GC: Keller “Blue Lights” (BC)
1RU: Fort Worth Southwest “Southwest Effect” (BV)
2RU: Timber Creek “Aerodynamix”
3RU: Hebron “Harmony!”
4RU: Keller “Lumina”
5RU: Fort Worth Southwest “Sound Machine”
What started on February 3 with a split-caption win ended on March 23 with a split-caption win. Keller, in its first year of head direction under Zach Steele, went from a dangerous choir to simply the best. They won a Best Vocals and a Best Choreography across the season and took down everybody in the Texas show choir scene. Keller Central? Check. L.D. Bell? Check. Fort Worth Southwest? Check. Established programs such as Arlington and Legacy? Check. It’s been a heck of a season for Blue Lights, and now it’s time to look back and enjoy their accomplishments.
It almost wasn’t this story, however. Southwest was first on the scoresheet heading into finals, where Blue Lights flipped the script. After a late drop from Legacy and a fifth-place finish in Nebraska, Southwest Effect has really rounded into form in the back half of the season. There was a solid fifth-place finish at Keller Central and now a runner-up finish here. FWSW was a group to watch entering 2024, and they’ve made good on those watching. They still have some tread left on their tires, however, as they will make the trip up to Tulsa to compete at Jenks on April 13.
Timber Creek was the choir of threes this year. In three competitions, Aerodynamix placed third, sixth, and third. In Caleb Bennetch’s first year of head direction, it was a year where they proved they were still one step ahead of many of the choirs nipping at their heels. Just like Keller, however, Timber Creek had to fight for where they finished at Rouse. Hebron was third heading into finals, before ADX made the move up in finals.
Despite being located north of Dallas, Hebron has not appeared in one single DFW-area competition, ever. That leaves Rouse as the only option, where they have grown each and every year they competed. This year, it was a third in prelims that stole the show, with that being perhaps the single most surprising placement of the day. While it slipped to a fourth in finals, it was still the best finish ever recorded for Harmony.
A pair of prep groups rounded out finals. Keller Lumina debuted at Legacy and ran a very solid three-competition slate, garnering third in the prep division at Keller Central and fifth overall here. Fort Worth Southwest Sound Machine actually bested Lumina in its season debut at Keller Central, taking home second place in that division, before making finals at Rouse and placing sixth overall.
Burleson, Cedar Park, Centennial, Glenn, Lake Creek, Leander, and Montgomery did not make finals.
Middle School Results
1st: Trinity Springs “Titanium” (BV)
2nd: Indian Springs “Infinity” (BC)
3rd: Timberview “Ovation”
Trinity Springs one-upped itself from last year, taking the top spot on the results sheet this year after placing second last year. It would be an exclamation point to a great season, in which the group has won three middle school divisions. The reason it’s not is because Titanium will also be making the trip to Jenks, going up against several middle schools from the Broken Arrow school district. Its lone loss on the season was in a monster division at Keller Central, placing third of 20 choirs.
Indian Springs had placed no higher than fifth before Rouse in 2024, making the second-place effort a big success story for Infinity. They also took a caption away from Trinity Springs, which is a huge accomplishment for them. It’s also a big sign of growth throughout the season for them, which is always a positive thing for a choir to have.
Timberview was the winner of last year’s event and they return to the podium this year. It’s the group’s second placement of the year, following a third at Legacy. They competed in all four Texas competitions this year. It’s a challenging enough gauntlet for high schoolers to complete, much less middle schoolers.
Rouse only announced three middle school placements, leaving seven groups outside of the placements.
Future Looking Bright
Early signs indicate that 2025 is looking like a breakout year for Texas show choir on the whole. Southlake Carroll and Burleson Centennial have both confirmed new competitions. That ups the Texas count to six, which is on equal footing with much more prestigious and established circuits Virginia and Minnesota. Additionally, both competitions fill empty weekends in the competition schedule, meaning that there will be show choir in Texas most weekends from the beginning of February to late March.
Additionally, on the groups side, Texas continues to have a small crop of groups debut every year. Those groups become good prep groups, and several prep groups look stout enough to move up to the varsity division next year. At least one program has tossed around adding a second group as well, another testament to the increasing momentum of show choir in the Lone Star state.
Until then, however, enjoy all the great moments and great shows that 2024 brought.
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