My show choir went to its first competition on Saturday.  We went to the Nothrop Classique and it was completely amazing and so much fun! Normally, after the day show certain choirs move on the night show and perform again while others are cut and have to go home.  However, three or four schools dropped out of the competition before Saturday, so all of the 6 schools there made the night show.  Our mixed group was in third place after our day show behind Waubonsie Valley Sound Check and Bishop Luers Minstrels.  We were so happy and really surprised because last year we did not do well at all at Northrop and didn't even make the night show.  Waubonsie Valley and Bishop Luers both have really incredible show choirs and we were able to watch their shows during the day. (Waubonsie Valley is from Aurora, Illinois, and everyone knew they were going to win because they are one of the top show choirs in the nation.) Before we performed again, our director told us that we were only 6 points behind Luers.  We went into the night show with a new found energy and soul and we had a fantastic second performance.  By the looks on the judges' faces, we totally blew them away by how much we improved in one day.  The results: Grand Champion - Waubonsie Valley, 1st runner-up - HOMESTEAD!!!, 2nd runner-up - Bishop Luers, 3rd runner-up - Columbia City, 4th runner-up - Garrett, 5th runner-up - Bellmont.  It was so amazing!!!! We managed to beat Luers by 1 point.  We tied them in choreography and beat them by 1 point in vocals.  Even though we actually got 2nd place, we all felt like champions that day. It was a great start to our competition season and I hope we keep up the hard work and focus as we continue competing.