By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief
After a wild kickoff weekend to the season, most Nebraska groups have a competition under their belt. Most of the remainder will hit the stage this weekend in either a competitive or exhibition capacity.
Four regional experts were surveyed on 35 of Nebraska’s top show choirs. Divisions are roughly based on NSAA cutlines, but some discretion may be used if a choir competes in multiple divisions throughout the course of a season.
Large School
1. Gretna “Revolution” (3 first-place votes)
2. Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir” (1 first-place vote)
3. Lincoln Southwest “Resonance”
4. Millard West “West in the Groove”
5. Lincoln East “Express”
6. Gretna East “Equinox”
7. Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”
8. Elkhorn South “Blackout”
9. Pius X “Spectrum”
10. Millard North “Infinity”
11. Grand Island “Ultimate Image”
12. Grand Island Northwest “14 Karat Gold”
13. Millard South “South on Stage”
14. Elkhorn North “adrENaline”
15. Omaha South “The Ambassadors”
Receiving Votes: Papillion-La Vista “Free Spirit”, Kearney “KHS Pops”, Hastings “Uncaged”, Norfolk “Velocity”, Bellevue East “Take II”
News and Notes
Gretna East was third in the small school division in HomeRoom’s end-of-season rankings last year. Its win at Gretna vaulted it above all of the groups Equinox competed against and right into the mix of power players. The group will travel to Hastings this weekend, where they will face Grand Island, Millard South, and Elkhorn North, among others.
The Standing Bear competition this weekend will have major implications at the top of the rankings. #1 Gretna will face #3 Lincoln Southwest and #5 Lincoln East. Who comes out on top there may just be the favorite to take the top spot in next week’s rankings.
Millard South was 19th in last season’s end-of-year rankings. Under the new direction of Lincoln Southwest and UNL grad Maddie Pressler, who came to Millard South by way of Bennington, South on Stage roared to a first runner-up finish at Ralston, toppling Lewis Central, Elkhorn, and Papillion-La Vista.
Just how tight are the rankings? Papio Free Spirit started the season off with a Grand Championship in Maryville, Missouri. Despite another solid placing last weekend (fifth at Ralston), they are on the outside looking in at the top 15.
Single-Gender
1. Westside “Simply Irresistible” (4 first-place votes)
2. Millard North “Illumination”
3. Elkhorn South “Shockwave”
4. Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Radiance“
5. Millard West “Uptown“
6. Papillion-La Vista “Monarchy“
7. Millard South “Stage One“
8. Papillion-La Vista “Heart and Soul”
9. Lincoln East “Elegance”
10. Pius X “Prism”
Receiving Votes: Norris “Titanaires”, Skutt Catholic “Allegro”, Grand Island “Sweet Revelation”, Marian “Momentum”
News and Notes
Break out the brooms, it’s a sweep! Westside Simply Irresistible garnered first-place votes from all four of the panelists. SI started off its season by making finals at Blue Valley last weekend and will be at Millard West this weekend. There, they will face off against Brandon Bellas, widely regarded as one of the top three womens groups in the south.
Clearly, the panel thought highly of the deep field at Gretna. Millard North won the division, followed by Elkhorn South and Papio South. Those groups now sit at #2, #3 and #4 in the rankings.
The same tight grouping happened for the choirs who attended Ralston. Millard South, Papio Heart and Soul, and Lincoln East were 1-2-3 in the division. Now, they’re 7-8-9 in the rankings.
Prep
1. Westside “Warrior Express” (1 first-place vote)
2. Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Express“ (1 first-place vote)
3. Millard West “Swing Cats“ (1 first-place vote)
4. Lincoln Southwest “Ambience”
5. Elkhorn South “Power Surge” (1 first-place vote)
Receiving Votes: Millard North “Intensity”, Gretna “Evolution”
News and Notes
Clearly, there’s still a lot to be decided here. There’s only been one head-to-head matchup among any of the ranked groups so far this season, and that led to the panel having a diverse array of opinions on who the top dog in the division is.
This goes for all three of the divisions, but is especially relevant in prep. Millard West will not begin their season until February 1, when they compete at Omaha Westside. Additionally, Swing Cats has been known to have a bit of a different competition schedule than WIG and Uptown, so their fewer matchups with other groups in the division will be that much more important.
Small School
1. Skutt Catholic “Vivace” (2 first-place votes)
2. Wahoo “Royalty” (2 first-place votes)
3. Plattsmouth “Out of the Blue”
4. Standing Bear “The Renegades”
5. Lincoln Northwest “First Class”
Receiving Votes: Sidney “Sidney State of Mind”, Beatrice “Limited Edition”, Chase County “9th Street Singers”
Well, folks, it’s another season, and the duo of Skutt and Wahoo are back to fight for the top spot in this division once again. Vivace was a solid second at Maryville, Missouri, to start off the season, while Royalty missed finals in a deep Ralston field last weekend.
It was truly an out-of-the-blue moment for Plattsmouth, who was on almost no one’s radar heading into Lincoln Links last weekend. However, they turned in a great performance and made finals, finishing fifth. It was OOTB’s first finals appearance since Lincoln Northeast in 2023 and only the second in program history (granted, it is a pretty young program).
Standing Bear enters the rankings after competing for the first time in school history. The Hunter Boe-led outfit performed admirably and made finals, beating out crosstown small school rival Lincoln Northwest and others for the last spot in the evening round. The Renegades will now host a killer battle between Gretna, Lincoln East and Lincoln Southwest this weekend.