Ulster Scottish wins 2026 Maxville with eight firsts; McKeown takes Pro piping; Wardell wins the Pro snare drumming

Maxville, Ontario – July 31-August 1, 2026 – Ulster Scottish of Philadelphia enjoyed an impressive eight firsts from the eight judges in both events to win Grade 2, the top-grade contested band event at the annual Glengarry Highland Games in warm and muggy conditions.

Sean McKeown won the aggregate in the Professional solo piping, while Kyle Wardell had equivalent success in the Professional solo snare drumming. Of note, McKeown’s son, Charlie, won the Youngest Winning Piper of the Day trophy, presented in memory of Pipe-Major J.T. MacKenzie, a mover and shaker of the Glengarry Highland Games for many decades.

Once again, the 78th Fraser Highlanders were the only Grade 1 band entered, so they performed for judges’ comments, prize money, and the official title of North American Pipe Band Champions.

Bands

Grade 1
Medley
78th Fraser Highlanders
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (piping); Paul Turner (drumming); Bob Worrall (ensemble)

MSR
78th Fraser Highlanders
Judges: John Elliott, Joe Biggs (piping); Mike Hunter (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

Grade 2
Overall
1st Ulster Scottish (USA)
2nd Ottawa Highlanders (Canada)
3rd Dartmouth & District (Canada)
4th Peel Regional Police (Canada)
5th Guelph (Canada)
6th Midlothian Scottish (USA)
7th Toronto Police (Canada)
8th Wasatch & District (USA)

Medley
1st Ulster Scottish (1,1,1,1)
2nd Ottawa Highlanders (2,2,3,2)
3rd Dartmouth & District (3,4,5,4)
4th Guelph (7,5,2,3)
5th Peel Regional Police (4,6,4,5)
6th Midlothian (5,3,7,7)
7th Toronto Police (6,7,8,6)
8th Wasatch & District (8,8,6,8)
Judges: John Elliott, Joe Biggs (piping); Mike Hunter (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

MSR
1st Ulster Scottish (1,1,1,1)
2nd Dartmouth & District (2,2,4,2)
3rd Ottawa Highlanders (3,3,2,5)
4th Peel Regional Police (4,6,3,3)
5th Guelph (7,5,6,4)
6th Midlothian (6,4,7,7)
7th Toronto Police (5,7,8,6)
8th Wasatch & District (8,8,5,8)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (piping); Paul Turner (drumming); Bob Worrall (ensemble)

Grade 3
Overall
1st Commonwealth (USA)
2nd College of Piping (Canada)
3rd Glengarry (Canada)
4th St. Andrew’s College Association (Canada)
5th Roisin Dubh Irish (USA)
6th Capital District United (Canada)
7th Macalester College (USA)
8th St. Andrew’s (Winnipeg (Canada)
9th Durham Regional Police (Canada)
10th Peel Regional Police 3 (Canada)
11th Rob Roy (Canada)
12th Guelph 3 (Canada)

Medley
1st College of Piping (3,5,1,1)
2nd Commonwealth (5,1,2,2)
3rd Glengarry (1,2,3,5)
4th Roisin Dubh Irish (9,3,4,6)
5th Macalester College (2,4,10,7)
6th St. Andrew’s (Winnipeg) (6,7,7,4)
7th St. Andrew’s College Association (8,10,8,3)
8th Capital District United (11,6,5,8)
9th Durham Regional Police (4,11,9,9)
10th Guelph (10,12,6,10)
11th Peel Regional Police (7,9,12,11)
12th Rob Roy (12,8,11,12)
Judges: Amy Garson, Trish Kirkwood (piping); Joe Kiah (drumming); Dan Bist (ensemble)

MSR
1st Commonwealth (1,1,2,1)
2nd College of Piping (3,2,1,3)
3rd Glengarry (2,3,4,2)
4th St. Andrew’s College Association (6,4,3,5)
5th Capital District United (5,11,5,7)
6th Roisin Dubh Irish (7,10,7,6)
7th Peel Regional Police (11,6,11,4)
8th Rob Roy (4,9,10,9)
9th Durham Regional Police (10,7,9,8)
10th Macalester College (9,12,6,10)
11th Guelph (12,5,8,12)
12th St. Andrew’s (Winnipeg) (8,8,12,11)
Judges: Trish Kirkwood, Ross Davison (piping); Mike Hunter (drumming); John Elliott (ensemble)

Grade 4 Medley
1st Durham Regional Police (Canada) (6,1,1,1)
2nd Hamilton Police (Canada) (2,6,4,4)
3rd Stuart Highland USA) (4,2,9,5)
4th Glengarry 4 (Canada) (3,3,13,3)
5th London Fire Fighters (Canada) (1,4,16,2)
6th Catamount  (USA) (12,7,8,6)
7th Dartmouth & District 4 (Canada) (13,9,3,8)
8th Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew (Canada) (8,15,6,7)
9th Ottawa Caledonian (Canada) (11,11,5,11)
10th Paris-Port Dover (Canada) (14,5,10,10)
11th Calgary Highlanders (Canada) (5,13,15,9)
12th Claddagh (USA) (7,8,17,12)
13th Manchester (USA) (10,14,7,14)
14th MacEoin Ramsay (Canada) (16,16,2,13)
15th Mohawk Valley Frasers (Canada) (9,12,11,16)
16th Capital District Youth (USA) (17,10,14,15)
17th St Andrews (Winnipeg) 4 (Canada) (15,17,12,17)
Judges: Amy Garson, Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (piping); Dan Bist (drumming); Jim McGillivray (ensemble)

Grade 5 March Medley
1st Kingston Police (Canada) (1,2,1,1)
2nd Smiths Falls Gordon (Canada) (2,3,4,5)
3rd College of Piping 5 (Canada) (3,8,2,2)
4th Foothills Caledonia Youth (Canada) (4,6,9,3)
5th Peel Regional Police 5 (Canada) (6,1,5,12)
6th Henderson Highlanders (Canada) (11,5,3,6)
7th Manchester 5 (USA) (5,9,6,9)
8th Glengarry 5 (USA) (8,7,10,8)
9th Sons of Scotland (Canada) (7,4,12,11)
10th Montreal (Canada) (12,12,8,4)
11th Rob Roy 5 (Canada) (9,10,11,7)
12th Dartmouth & District 5 (Canada) (10,11,7,10)
Judges: Colin MacLellan, Brian Williamson (piping); Mike Hunter (drumming); Paul Turner (ensemble)

Juvenile March Medley
1st Capital District Youth (USA) (1,1,1,2)
2nd Glengarry (Canada) (2,3,2,1)
3rd Durham Regional Police (Canada) (3,2,3,3)
Judges: Amy Garson, Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (piping); Dan Bist (drumming); Colin MacLellan (ensemble)

Solo Piping

Professional
Piobaireachd
1st Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario
2nd Tyler Johnson, Michigan
3rd Joe Biggs, Ontario
4th Jacob Dicker, Maxville, Ontario
5th Andrew Hutton, Ontario
6th Andrew Donlon, Washington, DC
Judge: Dr. Angus MacDonald

MSR
1st Andrew Donlon
2nd Ian K. MacDonald
3rd Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
4th Alex Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
5th James MacHattie, Summerside, Prince Edward Island
6th Sean McKeown
Judge: Barry Donaldson

2/4 March
1st Sean McKeown
2nd Andrew Donlon
3rd James MacHattie
4th Jean-Sebastien Gamache, Orleans, Ontario
5th Bruce Gandy
6th Alex Gandy
Judge: John Elliott

Strathspey & Reel
1st Sean McKeown
2nd Ian K. MacDonald
3rd Bruce Gandy
4th Adam Tingskou
5th Alex Gandy
6th Joe Biggs
Judge: Michael Grey

Jig
1st Alex Gandy
2nd Bruce Gandy
3rd Sean McKeown
4th Ian K. MacDonald
5th Daniel Carr, Collingwood, Ontario
6th Andrew Hutton
Judge: Bob Worrall

Senior Amateur Piobaireachd A
1st Hazen Metro
2nd Brittany Wright
3rd Carole Smith
4th Luke Baltrusaitis
5th Erin Bell
6th Mike Fenton
Judge: Peter Aumonier

Senior Amateur Piobaireachd B
1st Greg Bowen
2nd Evan McConkey
3rd Michael Trenor
4th John Mitchell
5th Matt Greco
6th Bill Saul
Judge: Glenna Mackay-Johnstone

Grade 1
2/4 March A
1st Greg Bowen
2nd Alexander Rocheleau
3rd Jazz Kersell
4th Iain Dewar
5th Luke Baltrusaitis
6th Jonathon Kalyn
Judge: Michael Grey

2/4 March B
1st Hazen Metro
2nd Nathan Plante
3rd Michael Malish
4th Michael Trenor
5th Mike Fenton
6th Brittany Wright
Judge: Trish Kirkwood

Strathspey & Reel A
1st Greg Bowen
2nd Alexander Rocheleau
4th Iain Dewar
5th Jazz Kersell
6th Evan McConkey
7th Luke Baltrusaitis
Judge: Ross Brown

Strathspey & Reel B
1st Erin Bell
2nd Hazen Metro
3rd Michael Trenor
4th Michael Malish
5th Matt Greco
6th Matthew Parsons
Judge: Barry Donaldson

6/8 March A
1st Iain Dewar
2nd Greg Bowen
3rd Bill Saul
4th Luke Baltrusaitis
5th Jonathon Kalyn
6th Matthew Stevens
Judge: Barry Donaldson

6/8 March B
1st Michael Malish
2nd Hazen Metro
3rd Michael Trenor
4th Matt Greco
5th Brittany Wright
6th Carole Smith
Judge: Ross Brown

Solo Professional Snare Drumming
MSR
1st Kyle Wardell
2nd Cameron MacDonald
3rd Ian Aastrom
4th Rita DeNobriga
Judge: Paul Turner

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Kyle Wardell
2nd Cameron MacDonald
3rd Rita DeNobriga
4th Ian Aastrom
Judge: Michael Hunter