HHS choir heads to national meet in Missouri

On Saturday, the top Hastings High School show choir won again. Riverside Company won the Grand Champion award at a 19-team meet in Albert Lea. This marks the third time Riverside Company has won the top prize at a competition this year.

That win should leave the team in a pretty good mood as it leaves this week for Branson, Mo., where they will compete at a national meet. The big meet in Missouri gives Hastings a chance to compete for a national championship, but things would have to go exceptionally well this weekend in order for that to occur.

Hastings is one of 14 teams that qualified last year to compete at the meet in Missouri.

“Our first goal is to make one of the top five finalists,” director Lin Warren said. “And then, the ultimate goal is to place in the top three. If you place in the top three, you qualify for the national championship competition in April.”

In addition to the meet in Missouri, there are four other qualifying competitions across the country for the national championships. The top three schools from those five competitions advance, and those 15 battle it out to earn the right to be the national grand champion.

A random draw has Hastings taking the stage early in the morning on Saturday as the second group.

“That is not a great placement,” Warren said. “If we are going to make finals, they have to give their best performance of the year in prelims, right off the bat. They have to be memorable. We are on at 10 a.m., and the last group is on at 5 p.m. There’s a lot of groups after us, and judges traditionally reserve scores. They don’t want to give their top scores second in the day. We have to give them no reason to give us low scores in any category.”

Riverside Company includes 53 singers and dancers, a 15-person band and a three-person crew. Countless people work with the group every year, and a dedicated group of parents helps make it all happen, too.

A fan bus of parents is making the drive, and a number of families are making a vacation out of the trip, too.

Albert Lea meet

At the meet in Albert Lea on Saturday, Hastings was one of five groups to advance to finals. In the finals round, Hastings earned all the first-place votes from the judges.

Sean Kelly, an HHS senior, was named the outstanding male soloist at the competition.

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