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What a performance by Leander in that video! Everything seemed to lock in during that one run. It's scary to think that this show still has about two weeks of cleaning left. Up to right now I had Reagan as the favorite for BOA SA but if groups preform like this it may be anyone's game. There is just so many elite programs this year in the running. As for UIL State I think that it will be a two horse race for the gold between Cedar Park and Leander. Wakeland and Vandegrift are both solid programs that could medal as well but I think that they are behind the pace of the leaders. These next two weeks are going to be very interesting!

Hey though this is not in 2015 I wanted to give you guys some knowledge that I think you will look forward to. Leander has made it known to its students and parents that they will be attending Grand Nats in 2016 after (Hopefully) a very successful State UIL year in 2015. Though it is not this next year it is still very exciting!

All the Schools in LISD have so much respect for each other. With how talented the district is, everyone knows that any year could be one of these band's year. As a district, the bands love each other and are friends. Earlier in the year at the Texas Marching Classic, Leander yelled "Good Luck Cedar Park" and "Good Luck Vandegrift" because they knew that while they are its competition, they are its closest friends first. When Cedar Park had its bus problems in prelims, Vista helped them out so that they could get to San Antonio. No district in the state comes close to what Leander Independent School District is.

This whole year has been a chip on their shoulder for Leander. If anyone remembers, last year they missed at spot for State by one spot and at BOA San Antonio they got 15th, one placement short of finals. That was a tough pill to swallow for those kids and this year they came to prove that they deserve to be up there and so far they have brought it. If anyone came into the season with a very focused goal, its Leander.

That run was something else. It would have easily been a state finals worthy run. It was too bad they were unable to advance.

Interesting view point. Personally I never found Marcus or Hebron to have extremely hard shows. The way these two bands got it done was through making their shows with as little flaw as possible. Every year these guys are very clean and that is why they are always in the running for the gold at State. Tempo wise I will disagree with you in that I actually think that the schools in Dallas play slightly slower tempos to sound really good while schools such as Claudia Taylor, Leander and the Woodlands push tempos to gain GE points for their lack in music clarity at times. Lastly, I do agree that herbon has a well designed show but so does everyone in the top for the most part. It will come down to who can execute that Saturday night.

What were the finals results and placements?

They were referring the the Semi-Finals run where Cedar Ridge actually placed 5th. In finals, however, they did fall down to 11th like you said.

Predictions!!: 1) CTJ 2) Hebron 3) TWHS 4) Bowie 5) Leander 6) Marcus 7) Round Rock 8) Flower Mound 9) LD Bell 10) Reagan 11) Vandegrift 12) Cedar Park 13) Spring 14) Hendrickson On a side note: I believe that UIL will be completely different. There, schools like Marcus and Bell would be rated higher while schools like Round Rock much lower.

What about the schools from the Austin area? I think Round Rock, Leander and Bowie all have made a case for a top 5 spot with Bowie scoring an 84.3 (I think), Leander an 83.5 (If I remember correctly) and winning the Texas Marching Classic and Round Rock with an 82 ish and winning the Westlake Marching Festival. These scores also were a week before Denton and two weeks before Conroe.

Quick recap of what I saw: Leander: Looks like this year is Leander's year in LISD. The show is non-stop with smooth transitions from percussion to woodwinds to brass while the guard is giving a constant reminder of what is going on with all the different color flags. What a statement by winning all 5 captions. Can't wait to see where this ends up in San Antonio. Possibly a score over 90? Cedar Park: Interesting result here seeing CP barely overtake Vandegrift thanks to a tie-breaker score despite coming behind them the past two weeks at BOA Austin and Vista Ridge. The sounds of the brass were so pure, especially during the Mozart section. Loved the full bells being made at the end. I expect them to once again compete for a finals spot in San Antonio. Vandegrift: You know a school district runs deep when the defending champ is behind two other schools in their own district. Great addition to the show with the final guard change that fills up the field. Copland music is a challenge to sound great on, but I am sure these guys can reach that level. Tough pill to swallow dropping a place based on a GE tiebreak. Clements: Just like last year, Clements looked very clean out there with their visual ensemble. It may be just hearing the echo but I heard a slight timing issue during the Romeo and Juliet section in the music. This was more in the prelims than in finals though. The singer was a nice addition when she was used. On a side note, I really liked the contrast of the uniforms. Kinda Reagan like. Westwood: Cool use of the word "four" throughout the show from the golf theme to the four seasons, four Scottish dances and Symphony four at the end. A little cleaner visually and I can see this show challenging for one of the last spots in Area D. Cedar Ridge(Exhibition): Lots of improvement from BOA Austin. From a visual standpoint it is getting very clean. Great transitions from the singer to the band. Would not be surprised if they run away with BOA SoCal. Overall, despite the rain delay, it was a great contest and I am glad it was able to happen.

It's crazy that many of these great bands would have won the other BOA Regional competitions with the scores from last night's finals. The level of excellence in this state is amazing!