By Ava Sammons, Iowa contributor
Indianola Ascension could very well be considered a Midwest melting pot competition for this season. Four different states were represented in this year's lineup, many of whom were new faces to the Ascension stage. Each state was represented in the highly competitive finals round, bringing together different styles and niches from different areas of show choir. A mixed division made up of 11 groups definitely added to the competitiveness and closeness for choirs to make the top six. Iowa choirs still managed to fill the podium in their home turf, but the results from Indianola have some surprises throughout.
Final Results
GC: Cedar Rapids Kennedy “Happiness, Inc.” (BV/BC)
1RU: Des Moines Christian “Light, Inc.”
2RU: Prairie “The Ambassadors” (BB)
3RU: Sparta “Upstage Adrenaline”
4RU: Millard South “South on Stage”
5RU: St. Francis “Bridge Street Singers”
Cedar Rapids Kennedy continues their record-high placing season with their second Grand Championship in a row. Happiness, Inc. hasn’t given up a vocal or visual caption award in the past two weeks either, so their win at Ascension wasn’t unexpected.
Des Moines Christian coming right behind them at a competition this big was no easy feat for a 2A choir. Light, Inc. has been making a name for themselves as a top small-school choir in the state and certainly won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Beating every 4A group but one and toppling some very stout competition along the way has to be one of the program's biggest achivements in a long time.
Prairie was able to make their way back to the podium after two competitions in the bottom three of finals; they weren’t giving up the fight for a high placement in their home state.
Behind an all in-state top three were all three out-of-state varsity choirs to compete at Indianola. Sparta, from western Wisconsin, was the highest of the traveler groups, coming in fourth. That placement was their second-lowest of the season, only ahead of an outlier Sauk Prairie competition where they were ninth in prelims and did not advance to the championship finals.
Millard South, from the Omaha area, took their lowest placement of the season after two second-place finishes and a fourth place so far this year. The group is experiencing a resurgent season under the new direction of Maddie Pressler.
Finishing out the finals round (and traveler representation) was Bridge Street Singers from the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. St. Francis has competed in four states throughout the Midwest this year and ended their season at one of their most difficult competitions of the season.
It truly was hard to know what to expect with so many new competitors at a competition this big. All three out-of-state choirs had not competed in Iowa so far this season, meaning there was no direct comparison to most of the other competitors at the event. Despite this, the Hawkeye State groups defended their home turf against all the visitors. Not only that, but there was arguably an upset within the top three - meaning that those in-state groups really showcased the quality of their circuit.