Marching Band Contest Results: September 26, 2026 Recap

Sep 28, 2026 | News

Marching Band Contest Results: September 26, 2026 Recap

A Saturday of class titles from Arizona to North Carolina

These are the marching band contest results from Saturday, September 26, 2026, for the bands performing my shows this fall. Forty of them competed somewhere that I could track, from four Bands of America regionals and four USBands regionals to invitationals in Texas, Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Here are the headlines. Clear Lake won the USBands Houston Regional with an 85.1, and Reedy won the Wylie Marching Invitational with a sweep of the finals captions. Mountain Ridge won the BOA Arizona Regional in Flagstaff and took the finals awards for music and general effect. Argyle won Class AAA at the BOA Dallas Mid-Cities Regional and swept the class captions. Jordan, Seaforth and Sanderson each won their class at the Panther Creek Invitational in Cary, North Carolina. Mineola came home from Texarkana as grand champion.

Late September is when a show is still half on the field and half in the director’s head. I spent nine years as a band director, and I know how much of this month is spent cleaning drill that’s still new. Results like these this early say a lot about the work these programs put in over the summer.

BOA Dallas Mid-Cities Regional: Argyle, Wakeland and Waxahachie

Three of my custom-show programs marched at Pennington Field in Bedford, in a prelims field of 23 bands.

BandShowPrelimsClassFinals
Argyle HSTheia’s Light3rd, 79.9501st in AAA, with Music, Visual and GEDid not march finals
Wakeland HSSacred Spaces9th, 75.6002nd in AAA12th, 75.450
Waxahachie HSGet To The Point10th, 75.3758th in AAAA11th, 76.000

Argyle won Class AAA and swept all three class captions, finishing 3rd overall in prelims. They qualified for finals but didn’t march it. According to the Cross Timbers Gazette, the band had another commitment in Melissa that day. Wakeland finished right behind them in AAA and made finals. Waxahachie made finals too and raised its score from 75.375 in prelims to 76.000 at night. Making a BOA final in September is a good sign for both of them.

BOA Arizona Regional: Mountain Ridge wins Flagstaff

Four of my bands marched at the Walkup Skydome, and all four made finals in a 13-band field.

BandShowPrelimsClassFinals
Mountain Ridge HSMixed selections1st, 76.9751st in AAAA1st, 77.650, with Outstanding Music (shared) and General Effect
Corona del Sol HSShort Circuit2nd, 74.9002nd in AAAA3rd, 75.400
Catalina Foothills HSListen5th, 74.0502nd in AAA5th, 74.950
Sandra Day O’Connor HSA Picture’s Worth8th, 70.8506th in AAAA7th, 73.200

Mountain Ridge led after prelims and held on at night to win the regional. Sandra Day O’Connor had the biggest jump of the four, gaining 2.35 points from prelims to finals and moving up a spot. Mountain Ridge is running a mix of selections from my catalog of adaptable marching band shows, which is a nice answer to anyone who thinks an adaptable show can’t win a BOA regional.

More Bands of America: Central Ohio and North Houston

BandShowRegionalPrelimsFinals
Rock Ridge HS (VA)FracturedCentral Ohio, Columbus7th of 24, 72.900, 3rd in AA8th, 72.950
Klein HSLight & ShadowNorth Houston, Shenandoah24th of 28, 66.000Did not advance

Rock Ridge made the trip from Virginia, placed 3rd in Class AA and made finals. Klein was in a deep North Houston field and didn’t advance. September scores are a snapshot, and there’s a lot of season left for them to build on.

North Carolina and Tennessee: three class titles at Panther Creek

BandShowContestResult
Jordan HS (NC)Mixed selectionsPanther Creek Invitational, Cary1st in Class 3A, 85.030
Seaforth HS (NC)FracturedPanther Creek Invitational, Cary1st in Class 4A, 83.780
Sanderson HS (NC)Monarch(y)Panther Creek Invitational, Cary1st in Class 2A, 80.730
Hendersonville HS (TN)MidnightWolf Pack Classic, Gallatin2nd in Class B, 77.338
Cascade HS (TN)New FrontierStones River Championship, Murfreesboro2nd in Large Division AAA, 78.520

Three of my bands won three different classes at the same contest. Jordan posted the top score of the three at 85.030. Seaforth and Rock Ridge are both marching Fractured this fall, in two different states, and it’s fun to watch the same show take on two different personalities. In Tennessee, Hendersonville finished 2nd in Class B at Liberty Creek, 0.837 behind Station Camp, and Cascade placed 2nd in its division at Siegel.

Arizona, Indiana and Oklahoma: Highland wins at home

BandShowContestResult
Highland HS (AZ)Mixed selectionsABODA Highland Invitational, Gilbert1st in Division I, 73.175, high score of the day
Boulder Creek HS (AZ)Mixed selectionsABODA Highland Invitational, Gilbert2nd in Division I, 69.350
Goshen HS (IN)The Shape of Things to ComePenn Carnival of Bands, Mishawaka1st in Open Class B, 78.650, Best Music, Best Visual and Best General Effect
Norman North HS (OK)Mixed selectionsYukon Marching Invitational, Yukon6th in finals, 71.40

Highland won its own invitational in Gilbert with the top score of the day and a sweep of the Division I captions, and Boulder Creek finished right behind them. Goshen won its class at Penn and took every caption award, a week before winning Class AAA at the BOA Northwest Ohio Regional. Norman North made finals in Yukon in a field led by Mustang and Westmoore.

USBands: Clear Lake wins Houston

Nine of my bands marched USBands regionals in Webster, Buda, Manor and Saginaw.

BandShowRegionalPrelimsFinals
Clear Lake HSOf Faun and FableHouston, Webster1st in Group V, 84.31st, 85.1
Heights HSMonarch(y)Houston, Webster7th in Group III, 69.8Did not advance
Weiss HSMixed selectionsCentral Texas, Buda1st in Group IV, 76.64th, 80.1
Stevens HSMixed selectionsCentral Texas, Buda4th in Group V, 76.25th, 79.0
Eaton HSMixed selectionsSaginaw3rd (tie) in Group V, 78.05th, 78.9, Best Color Guard
Memorial HS (San Antonio)Mixed selectionsCentral Texas, Manor1st in Group I (only band in the group), 65.29th, 65.6
Midlothian Heritage HSMixed selectionsSaginaw3rd in Group III, 76.4Did not advance
Fossil Ridge HSMixed selectionsSaginaw5th in Group IV, 75.3Did not advance
Lamar HS (Arlington)FiveSaginaw2nd in Group II, 70.5Did not advance

Clear Lake won Group V in prelims and then won finals by almost two points, ahead of C.E. King and West Fork. Their show, Of Faun and Fable, is a custom build around Debussy, Roussel and Ravel, and it posted the top score of any of my Texas bands that day. Weiss won Group IV in prelims and gained 3.5 points by finals. Stevens and Eaton both finished 5th in finals, and Eaton’s color guard took Best Color Guard at Saginaw. Midlothian Heritage just missed the Saginaw finals with a 76.4, higher than two bands that made it from other groups.

Texas invitationals

Most of these results come from fan posts, since the hosts hadn’t posted official recaps when I checked. Pearsall’s comes from the official Hill Country recap. I’ll update the rest if official numbers show up.

BandShowContestResult
Reedy HSDrawn TogetherWylie Marching Invitational1st in 5A prelims with Outstanding Music and Visual, 1st in finals with every caption
Independence HS (Frisco)Mixed selectionsWylie Marching Invitational2nd in 5A prelims, 3rd in finals
Farmersville HSMixed selectionsChris Lovejoy Marching Invitational, Whitesboro1st of 13
Del Valle HSCurlicue: Kinetic WhimsyCap City Marching Festival, Austin1st in the contest’s 3A prelims division, did not make finals
Pearsall HSMixed selectionsHill Country Marching Festival, Fredericksburg7th of 8 in 4A
Mineola HSWhat Lies BeneathPleasant Grove Marching Invitational, TexarkanaGrand champion, swept Class 3A, finals Best Percussion
Brewer HSPowerlineWildcat Marching Festival, Godley2nd in 5A prelims, 3rd in finals
Benbrook HSMixed selectionsWildcat Marching Festival, GodleyCompeted, not among the 10 finalists
Life HS WaxahachieMixed selectionsWildcat Marching Festival, GodleyCompeted, not among the 10 finalists
Panther Creek HSHydrodynamicsMelissa Marching Showcase7th in finals
North Forney HSMixed selectionsMelissa Marching Showcase10th in finals
Cigarroa HSMixed selectionsMPB Classic, Carrizo Springs1st
Jasper HSMixed selectionsPlano East Marching Invitational11th in finals

Reedy had a huge night at Wylie, winning 5A in prelims and then sweeping every finals caption, which fans in the thread called the first sweep at that contest. Independence finished 3rd in the same finals. Farmersville won at Whitesboro the same day it also performed at Mesquite. Mineola also had a big day, sweeping Class 3A in prelims and then winning the whole contest at night. Cigarroa also took a 1st at Carrizo Springs. If your band is looking ahead to the UIL stretch, my list of ways to make your show stand out at UIL Area is worth a read.

What’s next

October is here, and the schedule fills up fast with more BOA regionals and UIL region contests. I’ll keep posting marching band contest results for my bands as they come in. Congratulations to every student, director and staff member who made September 26 worth writing about.

If you’re already thinking about next fall, browse the 2026 show catalog or start sketching your own with the Build Your Show tool. When you’re ready to talk it through, reach out here and we can set up a call.

FAQ

Where can I find official marching band contest results? Bands of America posts class awards and finals scores on each regional’s results page at marching.musicforall.org. USBands posts official scores under the Scores tab on each event page at usbands.org. Many state circuits and invitationals post recaps through CompetitionSuite, and fans share scores on HornRank and TxBands.

Why didn’t Argyle march finals at BOA Dallas? BOA’s results don’t give a reason. The Cross Timbers Gazette reported that the band had another commitment in Melissa that day.

Can an adaptable show win a Bands of America regional? Yes. Mountain Ridge won the BOA Arizona Regional on September 26 with a mix of selections from my catalog. Every show is adjusted to the band’s instrumentation and strengths before they start learning it, which is what lets it compete. See how adaptable shows work.

About the author

I’m Evan VanDoren, a composer and arranger based in Austin. I spent nine years as band director at Cedar Park High School, where we won three UIL State Championships, and I now write for Santa Clara Vanguard. My work is published through RWS Music and Alfred Music, and I write adaptable and custom marching band shows for programs across the country.

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