BOA Katy Preview
Just one week after the first one in Shenandoah, this weekend we will have the second BOA Regional in the Houston, TX area, this one held at Legacy Stadium in Katy, TX. This is the second year in which there have been two Houston regionals.
At this regional, we will see a handful of the bands who attended the BOA Shenandoah Regional last weekend as well as other Houston bands who did not. Most notably not in attendance is last weeks champion, #10 The Woodlands (TX). With the top spot ostensibly open, we have a lot of programs making their way from Austin and San Antonio, including the band who consistently won the regional before it split. Here is the schedule (all times in CT):
7:30 AM - Tomball Memorial (TX)
7:45 AM - Franklin (TX)
8:00 AM - Obra D. Tompkins (TX)*
8:15 AM - Seven Lakes (TX)*
8:30 AM - Friendswood (TX)*
8:45 AM - Pearland (TX)*
9:00 AM - Cypress Woods (TX)
9:15 AM - James E. Taylor (TX)*
9:30 AM - Clear Springs (TX)*
BREAK
10:30 AM - Lake Travis (TX)*
10:45 AM - Clear Creek (TX)*
11:00 AM - Clear Brook (TX)*
11:15 AM - Paetow (TX)*
11:30 AM - Foster (TX)*
11:45 AM - Stephen F. Austin (TX)*
12:00 PM - Cy-Fair (TX)*
12:15 PM - Liberal Arts and Science Academy (TX)
12:30 PM - #13 Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX)
12:45 PM - Cypress Ranch (TX)
BREAK
1:45 PM - #11 Cedar Ridge (TX)*
2:00 PM - Cypress Park (TX)*
2:15 PM - Cinco Ranch (TX)*
2:30 PM - Cypress Falls (TX)*
2:45 PM - Dawson (TX)*
3:00 PM - Little Cypress-Mauriceville (TX)*
3:15 PM - Katy (TX)*
3:30 PM - Oak Ridge (TX)*
3:45 PM - Churchill Fulshear (TX)*
4:00 PM - Morton Ranch (TX)*
4:15 PM - Brazoswood (TX)*
4:30 PM - #9 Ronald Reagan (TX)*
* Denotes returning group
As you can tell from the asterisks, a majority of the bands also attended this regional last year. In fact, 25 out of the 31 competing groups are returning and all but one of last year’s 12 finalists are part of that group. The returning finalists in performance order are Seven Lakes (TX), Friendswood (TX), Pearland (TX), James E. Taylor (TX), Lake Travis (TX), Stephen F. Austin (TX), Cy-Fair (TX), Cedar Ridge (TX), Dawson (TX), Oak Ridge (TX), and #9 Ronald Reagan (TX). Out of those eleven bands, only Seven Lakes and #9 Ronald Reagan have not competed so far this season. Seven Lakes should be competitive for the top half just as they were last year and #9 Ronald Reagan will be in the running for the regional title they are defending.
Both Lake Travis and #11 Cedar Ridge were at BOA Austin, placing 11th and 2nd respectively. Lake Travis had a top half finish at this regional last year despite finishing 13th at BOA Austin the week prior, so they shouldn’t be counted out for a high placement here again. After #11 Cedar Ridge coming within a point of #5 Vandegrift (TX) last week, it would be foolish to count them out of the race for the regional title. The remaining seven returning finalists all competed at BOA Shenandoah last weekend and while some made finals and others missed. Cy-Fair placed at the top of this pack last weekend with a silver medal finish with Pearland not too far behind them in 4th. The bottom half of finals included Friendswood in 8th, Oak Ridge in 10th, and Dawson in 11th. On the outside looking in was Stephen F. Austin in 13th and James E. Taylor in 15th. If there’s anything we learned from last year’s Houston regionals, it was that missing at Conroe, even by well over a point, does not count you out of finals at Katy.
The next group to talk about are the returning groups who weren’t in finals, but will still have a shot at qualifying. These groups are Obra D. Tompkins (TX), Clear Brook (TX), Foster (TX), Churchill Fulshear (TX), and Brazoswood (TX). Clear Brook is the most likely out of this group to make finals given their very strong 6th place finish at BOA Shenandoah last weekend and Obra D. Tompkins wasn’t far off of finals either finishing 14th in prelims. Foster is coming off of a strong showing last weekend at the USBands Baytown Showcase where they placed 2nd less than a point behind the champions, Dickinson (TX). Brazoswood did not have the best showing at this regional last year due to getting more school days canceled by Hurricane Ida than the rest of the area because of their geographic location, but with no such extreme weather in the area this year so far, they should be very competitive here this weekend. Finally, Churchill Fulshear is a program that has been growing very quickly since the school opened its doors in 2016 and will continue to be a band to watch.
The last group are bands who will be in the finals conversation who did not come to this regional last year. Those four groups are Tomball Memorial (TX), Cypress Woods (TX), Liberal Arts and Science Academy (TX), and #13 Claudia Taylor Johnson (TX). Tomball Memorial is making their BOA premier and being the first time a band from Tomball ISD has competed in BOA since 2006, five years before the Tomball Memorial opened its doors. They qualified for the 5A UIL State Marching Contest in 2013, 2015, and 2017 and since moving up to 6A in 2018, have been a consistent 6A UIL Area F Finalist. Cypress Woods should be a much more familiar name given their very strong 2021 season that started with taking home the silver medal at BOA Shenandoah and they will be one of the groups fighting for a spot in the top half. LASA made their BOA debut at the Waco Regional in 2021 where they made finals and will be looking to start their finals streak at Katy, but at an arguably far more competitive regional. Last but certainly not least is #13 Claudia Taylor Johnson, who opted to do this contest instead of their typical BOA Austin premier due to scheduling conflicts. Needless to say, #13 CTJ will be fighting for the regional title alongside #9 Ronald Reagan and #11 Cedar Ridge.
As you can see, the splitting of the Houston Regional has not come at the cost of an entertaining and highly competitive field. With bands still traveling from different cities to Katy and many Houston bands stepping it up, there’s no telling what kind of shake-ups will happen this weekend.
Aaron Blackley is one of the original contributors for General Effect Media. Despite being young and fresh out of college, he has a vast knowledge and passion for the marching arts and has worked alongside the likes of HornRank as a ranker and moderator as well as the TxBands.com liveblog team since summer 2021. He can be found on Twitter as @GEMAaronB.