There was good news and bad news for the Ankeny Centennial High School students who traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota, this weekend for a show choir competition.

The good news: The school's Spectrum show choir was named grand champion of the Hastings "Swingin' on the River" competition and received honors for best vocals and best choreography. Its Eternal Rush show choir was second runner-up.

The bad news: It's taking them much longer than anticipated to bring home the trophies.

A weekend winter storm dropped rain followed by heavy snow across parts of Minnesota and Iowa, shutting down Interstate 35 for more than 24 hours north of Ames and for even longer north of the Iowa border. That has left the 311 show choir students, 11 buses and several staff members and parents, who were planning to come home Sunday, stranded in the Gopher State.

As of Monday afternoon, the students — who account for about one-third of the Ankeny Centennial student body — remained in St. Paul, unsure when they would arrive home.

Southbound Interstate 35 opened around noon Monday, giving the students a clear ride home through Iowa. But the interstate remained closed from the Iowa border north to Owatonna on Monday afternoon.

Ankeny Schools spokeswoman Samantha Aukes said the school is watching the weather and waiting to see when conditions will be safe enough to bring its caravan of buses home.

"They're waiting for I-35 to open back up again and until they feel they can travel safely back," she said.

The decision to attend the Saturday competition has not sat well with some Ankeny Centennial parents, who say meteorologists had been forecasting difficult weather throughout the week.

"I'm seriously questioning the motivations on why they thought it was fine to go in the first place," said Brian Frank, whose step-daughter was one of the students stranded on the trip. "It was a very preventable situation."

Frank, who has been receiving updates from the school via email, said he's not one to complain about school decisions but is concerned about the way it was handled and the safety of the students.

He said he wishes the school had changed its plans to attend the competition like the Waukee Community School District. Waukee district spokeswoman Amy Varcoe confirmed the school canceled its trip to Minnesota on Thursday due to the forecast.

Aukes said the school had determined it could make the trip when it saw that a winter weather advisory was expected to expire Sunday afternoon. She said the school had spoken with the DoubleTree hotel in St. Paul, where the students were going to be staying, to ensure they would have the option to extend the stay.

"They had plan B ready to go," she said.

Aukes said the students have been keeping occupied: They had an impromptu talent show on Sunday night and were going to the Mall of America on Monday.

"They're keeping them entertained and well-fed and trying to make the most of the situation," she said. "Our students have been safe, and that has been at the forefront of all the decision-making."

Since several of the students are band members, the high school's pep band was unable to play at Monday's girls' state basketball game versus Southeast Polk at Wells Fargo Arena.

A photo posted to Twitter by the Ankeny Centennial Band's account on Monday morning showed a handful of woodwind and percussionists sitting in a sea of empty chairs.

Ankeny Centennial is set to hold a high school band concert Tuesday evening. Aukes said the school is hoping the students will be back in time.