2023 WGI World Championships by the Numbers
Recapping some of the incredible milestones and achievements that were accomplished over the course of an exciting two weeks in Dayton, Ohio
A little over a week ago, the 2023 Winter Guard International season concluded after two weeks of World Championships events. The seven total days of competition in Dayton, Ohio put a bow on the season that included 32 color guard regional events, 21 percussion & winds regional events, and 3 additional winds only events to make this year the biggest season since 2019.
After such a memorable season, we thought there would be no better way to celebrate the season than to share some of the interesting numbers and milestones that took place this year. Unfortunately, covering the accomplishments of all 560 groups that competed in Color Guard, Percussion, and Winds World Championships is simply not possible, but still do enjoy our first annual “WGI World Championships by the Numbers.” The format is simple: I tell you a number and then an interesting fact behind it relating to World Championships. Let’s dive in….
597: The total number of performances at Color Guard World Championships. This included 317 in prelims rounds, 185 in semifinals rounds, and 95 in finals rounds.
416: The total number of performances at Percussion World Championships. This included 204 in prelims rounds, 108 in semifinals rounds, and 104 in finals rounds.
74: The total number of performances at Winds World Championships. This included 39 in prelims rounds and 35 in finals rounds.
38: The number of states (including Washington DC) represented at Color Guard World Championships. Texas led the way with 40 groups in attendance, followed by Indiana, Ohio, and Florida all tied with 26 groups.
37: The number of states represented at Percussion World Championships. Ohio was the best represented with 22 groups, followed by Indiana and California tied at 21.
29: The number of states represented in finals at Percussion World Championships. Indiana was best represented with 12 groups in their respective class finals, followed by California with 11 and Ohio with 10. In Scholastic Open alone, Indiana was represented by six groups which was the most groups from one state in a 2023 class finals amongst guard, percussion, and winds.
24: The number of states represented in finals at Color Guard World Championships. Ohio and Florida were atop the leaderboard with 12 groups, followed by Texas and California with 10. Most notably, E.D. White HS became the first guard from Louisiana to make finals in 17 years and Hernando HS became the first guard from Mississippi to make finals in 10 years. Additionally, four guards from Tennessee advanced to their respective class finals, the most at a single Color Guard Championships in the state’s history.
19: The number of states represented at Winds World Championships. Indiana and Ohio led all states and were each represented by four groups, followed by Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Nebraska with three each.
10: Of the 63 groups in guard, percussion, and winds that finished as a medalist, 10 were from Indiana, the most from any state. Groups from a total of 25 different states as well as Canada were named medalists over the course of the two World Championships weekends. California and Ohio followed in second and third with nine and seven medalist groups respectively.
6: The number of groups that won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. The groups that achieved this feat were:
Somerset Academy (FL) - Color Guard Scholastic Open Champions
Pulse Percussion (CA) - Percussion Independent World Champions
Fishers HS (IN) - Percussion Scholastic Concert World Champions
Clover HS (SC) - Percussion Scholastic Open Champions
LSM Winds (MI) - Winds Independent Open Champions
Avon HS (IN) - Winds Scholastic World Champions
Even more impressively, Somerset Academy, Clover HS, and LSM Winds all won their respective Open classes after being named A class champions in 2022. Somerset Academy became the first guard to win SO and SA in back to back years since Kennesaw Mountain HS (GA) achieved the feat in 2005 and 2006. Clover HS became the first percussion ensemble to win championships in different classes in back to back years since Avon HS were named PSO champions in 2001 and PSW champions in 2002.
Meanwhile, Pulse Percussion became the first back to back champion in PIW since Rhythm X (OH) did so in 2008 and 2009. Fishers HS became the third concert percussion ensemble ever to win championships at four or more consecutive World Championships, joining Franklin Central HS (IN) and Ayala HS (CA) in the record books. Lastly, Avon HS won their fourth championship in WSW to tie Rhythm X Winds (OH) and Chromium Winds (IL) as the winningest winds groups in the activity’s young history that dates back to 2015.
5: The number of ensembles in Percussion Scholastic World that finished with a score of 95 or higher. The last time this many ensembles in PSW achieved this feat was in 1999.
4: The finals placement by Vista Murrieta HS (CA) in Percussion Scholastic World in just their first ever appearance at World Championships. This is the highest placement by a Scholastic World group in its first finals appearance since Claremont HS (CA) finished as the bronze medalists at their first and only PSW finals appearance in 2008.
3.15: the winning margin by Color Guard Scholastic A champions Dobyns-Bennett HS (TN). This was the first time any guard has won their class by 3 or more points since James Logan HS (CA) won Scholastic World by 3.0 in 2002.
3: The number of countries outside of the United States represented at Color Guard World Championships. Three groups from Canada, one from The Netherlands, and one from the United Kingdom traveled to Dayton to compete. Of the five groups, all but one advanced to finals. Most notably, Pacificaires from British Columbia, Canada won Independent A and their fourth ever championship, while Mayflower made Independent World finals for the sixth time in their organization’s history.
2: The final placement by Blessed Sacrament (MA) in Independent World finals. The guard is infamously one of the most successful in WGI’s history, having made 43 consecutive finals appearances, by far the longest streak in the activity. They’ve also finished as medalists nine times including being named the Independent World champions in 1990. Despite this success, Blessed Sacrament had not placed in the top 2 since 1996 until this year’s World Championships, making 2023 an incredibly successful season for the Boston area based organization.
1: The number of groups from the state of Idaho that have been named medalists at any guard, percussion, or winds championships. Congratulations to North Star Independent Percussion who became the first group to accomplish the feat this year! Last year, they became the first group from Idaho to even make a finals appearance, ultimately finishing 10th in Independent A. They followed that achievement this year by finishing third in Independent A with a 91.9 and taking home the bronze medal.
0.038: Remember earlier when it was mentioned that Pulse Percussion became the first group in 14 years to win consecutive championships in PIW? It turns out that they achieved this feat by the slimmest of margins; the 0.038 spread was the closest ever between first and second place in PIW history, breaking the previous record of 0.1 set in 1997.
So there you have it, 17 facts about the 2023 WGI World Championships you can use to impress your friends (or just look like even more of a band nerd, they’ll decide). Of course it’s impossible to completely recap an incredible WGI season with such a short article and a few numbers, but here’s hoping it properly celebrates the incredible accomplishments by the young adults that were fortunate enough to perform on WGI’s biggest stage.
Marching Arts by the Numbers is a current staff writer and stats guru for General Effect Media. He has been involved in the marching arts activity for nearly two decades. Marching Arts by the Numbers is his passion project with the mission of being the primary source of statistical information for the marching arts community. You can follow more of his work at @band_scores on Twitter.