Winner's Circle, 3/22/25: Indiana 5, Rest of the Country 5

Winning isn’t everything, but it certainly is something. Here’s a look at who took overall Grand Championships this weekend, and what it means in historical context.

Disclaimer: Win totals are sourced from showchoir.com. Not every show choir competition is documented online, and as such, all win totals should be considered unofficial. To view a full spreadsheet of data, click here.

California

Cypress: Glendora made a late switch up from Advanced Mixed 2 to Advanced Mixed 1, and it certainly paid off. Royal Stewarts split captions with John F. Kennedy but took the overall win, its first of the season. The situation is all the more impressive when put in the context that Glendora’s choir area was ravaged by fire only a couple weeks prior to this. Royal Stewarts have now won at least once in three straight seasons, a streak they will be keen to extend in the future.

Indiana

ISSMA Large: Avon Accents completed a two-caption win over Plainfield Belles et Beaux to wrap up an undefeated season, the first in program history. The program had never won before 2019 and now numbers 15 wins. The state championship is Avon’s first – they are the fifth different group (North Central, Franklin Central, Carmel, Plainfield) to win the event.

ISSMA Small: Roncalli Royal Rhapsody was the last performer of the day and cleared the field at small school finals to take their second win of the season and fifth overall. Rhapsody was 3.7 points clear of last year’s state champion, Huntington North. With the win, Roncalli is the ninth different group to win small school state finals.

Noblesville: In a large mixed division that featured two Indianapolis groups and two Fort Wayne groups, it was Carroll who took home all the hardware. Magic locked up six captions, shutting the rest of the large mixed division out of any awards. It was Magic’s fourth win this season, the most they’ve had since a five-win 2019 campaign. Their 33 recorded wins put them in sole possession of 43rd on the all-time list.

Iowa

Hinton: Skutt Catholic took both vocals and choreo en route to its fifth win overall and first since 2019. The win was Skutt’s first at Hinton but fourth in Iowa, as Vivace previously triumphed at Underwood and West Liberty (twice).

Massachusetts

Andover: Waltham swept Lowell, the only other choir in large mixed, for their third win of the season. Music Unlimited now sits at 12 wins total, on par with programs like Grenada, Lincoln East, and Brownsburg. It was Waltham’s second triumph at Andover after previously sweeping in 2022.

Virginia

Powhatan: A second meeting between Cosby and Manchester this season yielded a second result of ‘Cosby first with vocals and Manchester second with choreo and band.’ It was Cosby’s third win this season and their 25th recorded win. They are the 58th program to eclipse the 25-win threshold.

West Virginia

WVVMA State: Another state contest has come and gone, and so has another Hurricane sweep. Red Hot has now won ten consecutive state championships. The last time they lost was 2014. Red Hot now counts 17 state wins in total. Their six wins this season are the most since 2019. With this win, Hurricane passed DeKalb for sixth on the all-time list.

Regional

Heart of America Los Angeles: It was close, but Center Grove Sound System closed out another undefeated season at HOA LA. Sound System leads the nation with 19 wins in the past four seasons. They sit at 97 recorded wins, and are likely to pass 100 by the time next season ends. CG also has 15 wins in regional competitions, within striking distance of current category leader Mt. Zion (17).

Show Choir Nationals: Carmel Ambassadors jumped from second in prelims to a unanimous first in finals, securing their first Show Choir Nationals win in their maiden appearance. Ambassadors close their season with three wins, pushing them to 48 recorded wins. They are the 15th different winner of Show Choir Nationals. It was Carmel’s second win at a regional competition, following their victory at Heart of America Nashville in 2019.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the total number of Hurricane's state championships.