By Michael McHargh, Ohio contributor
March is here, which means the end of the season is near. Fortunately there are still a few more weekends left to wrap up the season. This past weekend, choirs took the stage at five different events and brought home some shocking results as well as some expected ones.
Large Mixed
Solon “Music in Motion” (3 first-place votes, no change)
Marysville “Swingers Unlimited” (1 first-place vote, NC)
Grove City “Touch of Class” (NC)
Fairfield “Choraliers” (NC)
Piqua “The Company” (+1)
Loveland “By Request” (-1)
Olentangy “Keynotes” (NC)
Findlay “First Edition” (+2)
ETC “The All Americans” (NC)
Beavercreek “Friends” (-2)
News and Notes
Although the podium remains the same for the fourth week in a row, it’s nothing but sweeps for Grove City, Fairfield, and Piqua this weekend at their respective competitions. Piqua’s season-ending sweep at Solon boosts them back ahead of Loveland into the fifth spot, their highest ranking yet.
Findlay gets its lick back on Beavercreek at Solon and shifts ahead of them and ETC. ETC closed out their season at Pendleton Heights with a second runner-up placement, cementing them just ahead of Beavercreek.
Small Mixed
Edgewood “Choraliers” (4 first-place votes, no change)
Euclid “Varsity Chorale” (NC)
Ross “Legacy” (+1)
North Royalton “Royal Harmony” (-1)
Twinsburg “Great Expectations” (NC)
Mayfield “Limited Edition” (+1)
Kenton “Top Twenty” (NC)
Buckeye Valley “Visions” (+1)
Van Buren “The Association” (+1)
Garfield Heights “Music Express” (-1)
Receiving Votes: Hamilton "Prestige", Medina "Encore Entertainment Company", River Valley "Music Company", Ada "Varsity Singers"
News and Notes
Edgewood and Euclid sustain their top placings within the division, while Ross returns to the podium after their finals appearance at South Dearborn. This shifts them ahead of North Royalton, who bested all the Small Mixed choirs at Teays Valley except for Poca from West Virginia, who swept the division.
Mayfield advances a rank and threatens Twinsburg after swapping placements with them at Solon from prelims to finals.
Van Buren swung big again this weekend, placing second in a dense Small Mixed division at Solon and moving ahead of Garfield Heights in the ranks.
Single Gender
Grove City "Class Act" (3 first-place votes, no change)
Marysville "Swingers Select" (1 first-place vote, +2)
Loveland "Allure" (-1)
Fairfield "Pure Elegance" (-1)
ETC "Rouge" (NC)
News and Notes
Despite not competing this past weekend, Marysville Swingers Select was the big riser in the rankings, jumping from fourth to second and picking up a first-place vote.
Looking Ahead
After such a jam-packed first weekend of March, the season drastically slows down with only eight more competitions left across a few weekend for Ohio choirs.
Traveling to just outside of Decatur, Illinois this weekend, Loveland will face their toughest competition yet at Mt. Zion, competing against Brandon and Grenada from Mississippi, Neosho and Troy Buchanan from Missouri, and Glenwood and Wheaton Warrenville South from Illinois. With such a dense line-up of heavy hitting choirs, just claiming one of the six finals spots is quite the daunting task.
In Indiana, North Royalton will attend their program’s first out-of-state competition at Churubusco. Here they will face a handful of Indiana choirs - notably Edgewood, Homestead, and Jay County. Busco will take five finalists and North Royalton is hoping to secure one of those spots.
The only event taking place in Ohio this weekend is the Marysville Showcase featuring 15 schools, including Chesterton from Indiana and Waubonsie Valley from Illinois.
In the Large Mixed division, Beavercreek, Olentangy and Fairfield will run their rematch from four weeks ago with the addition of Marion Harding, Chesterton and Waubonsie Valley. Even though Chesterton and Fairfield are the favorites to win the division, with Olentangy’s solid placement above Findlay and Beavercreek at Solon, and Show Choir Nationals in their sights, the Keynotes need to keep the upward momentum for their season and this is a great event to do so. Funnily enough, Chesterton and Waubonsie Valley have seen each other already this season, where Chesterton claimed Best Choreography and placed ahead of Waubonsie Valley. The question is 'just where do these Ohio choirs fall among them?'.
In Medium Mixed, Twinsburg and Medina battle it out for the third and final time this season with the addition of Whitehall-Yearling. Twinsburg is up 2-0 over Medina, so they will be looking to win the division and sneak into the mixed finals.
The Small Mixed division brings Elgin, Portsmouth, Trotwood-Madison, and a rematch for Buckeye Valley, River Valley, and Licking Valley from their first meeting at Alliance. The frontrunner for the division is Buckeye Valley, who is coming off of two finals performances, where they placed fifth both times. River Valley placed just behind Buckeye Valley at Alliance and hopes to flip the script from two weeks ago.
The Single Gender division is a mirror of the large division (minus Beavercreek) where again the leading favorites are Fairfield and Chesterton. This comp will take three Single-Gender finalists so the fight for that third spot is fair game for Olentangy, Marion Harding and Waubonsie Valley.
Although the season is slowly coming to an end, there is still plenty of show choir to come. With only one more local event and five out of state competitions, some of the toughest match-ups and exciting competitions are still ahead.