Thomas

Unconfirmed: Cedar Park 1 2 1 2 1 1st Place Friendswood 2 1 2 1 2 2nd Place Friendswood taken down for the first time since 2004.

Houston Area Contests: Friendswood Marching Contest - First week of October BOA Conroe - Early to mid October Lone Star Preview - Second or third week of October Dickinson Marching Festival - Third or fourth week of October Sam Houston Marching Festival - Last week of October (usually) Those are the main ones I know.

Friendswood had mostly 4A, some 5A - total of 16 made All-State. Apparently that is not a school record

Thanks for the help! Which schools produced the most 4A and 5A All-Staters?

Does anyone know where I can find the results from All-State auditions?

Friendswood's show from the Dickinson Marching Contest - not their best performance but was the best show I have ever heard come out of Friendswood. Very well designed and executed.

Is 62 bands not enough to warrant a semifinal? I think it is a fair question. And no, I am actually not upset about anything.

Every year, BOA San Antonio gets harder. This year, there were 62 bands with about 25-30 strong contenders for 14 spots. I think now is the time to add a semifinal to the competition. This would ensure that the right bands would be picked for finals as it is ridiculous to make the judges cut the competition down to 14 bands from 62 and not make mistakes.

1. Dawson bounced back very well from Lone Star last week. 2. Friendswood is tearing through contest season, winning two weeks in a row. And as usual, it does not look like they will peak until the last contest of the year (BOA).3. Clear Brook and Clear Falls continue to improve, week by week.

Lone Star has a hybrid BOA and UIL judging system, in my opinion. Although GE is included, there is a focus on music performance.

Friendswood has improved greatly since BOA Conroe, and they proved it in their win at Lone Star Preview. However, they still have a lot to do to ensure a lock at BOA San Antonio.

Does anyone have the schedule or a list of bands for this year's contest?

I would argue for Pearland over Westfield, but it really is a toss up.

After Lone Star Preview, you have to include Morton Ranch. Maybe they would knock out Cy-Falls?

Some observations from the contest: 1. I thought Dawson's show was unusually very dirty for this time of year, and they got 16th. Wow. But they stil have time. 2. Pearland and Clear Brook appear to be making a comeback. 3. Friendswood had an amazing prelims performance, then had an even better finals performance. 4. Morton Ranch was a big surprise. Congratulations to them!

Prelims Recap: http://www.twhsband.org/LoneStarPreview/fi...coreResults.pdf Finals Recap: http://www.twhsband.org/LoneStarPreview/fi...coreResults.pdf I'm a little shocked by the results of the contest. Friendswood pretty much ran away with it.

Predictions: 1. Spring HS 2. Friendswood HS 3. Brazoswood HS 4. College Park HS 5. Leander HS 6. Westfield HS 7. Clear Brook HS 8. Dawson HS 9. Klein Oak HS 10. Oak Ridge HS Captions: Spring (all)

Who do you think will do well at this year's contest?

I was impressed by Cy-Fair and Clear Brook, and I liked Dickinson's rendition of 1812 overture. I liked Dawson's show, but it seemed kind of unclear, which is unusual for them.

10th Waller HS 9th Deer Park HS 8th Clear Falls HS 7th Alvin HS 6th Clements HS 5th Dickinson HS 4th Klein Oak HS 3rd Dawson HS (General Effect) 2nd Clear Brook HS (Visual, Music) Grand Champion Cy-Fair HS (Color Guard, Percussion) Congratulations to all bands who participated!

My predictions for Area D: 1. Cedar Park 2. Vandegrift 3. Dripping Springs 4. Vista Ridge/Connally/Hendrickson/Lake Travis/Hays (in no order)

Back on topic, I really like Cedar Park's style of loud playing, and Mahler is one of my favorite composers. I know everyone is rooting against the favorite, but it is hard not to like CP's shows.

My comment was NOT a put down of Dripping Springs. Dripping Springs is one of my favorite programs, and I have only respect for them. I was just trying to say that it could happen to anyone on any day (and obviously it was not taken as I had intended). I apologize for anything I wrote on here that might have been seen as offensive. This year is obviously going to be the hardest to judge, and I wish all of the judges and bands the best of luck over the next few weeks.

Just wait until Dripping Springs is on the Duncanville/Friendswood side of things. I can guarantee you it is going to happen to someone again this year - we will see who it is going to be.