The Mustang Battalion hosted a shooting competition in their new range facility on October 21, 2023. They placed second overall and witnessed some high scores from their precision team, including an overall score of 765 for prone, 677pts for standing, and 702pts for kneeling. They came away with a total score of 2148pts.
JROTC has been around since 1916, and was implemented into schools to have plenty of qualified young teenage candidates ready for WWI and other impending conflicts. A lot of those lessons, traditions and training styles have been passed down ever since it started. One of those ways of training was rifle competitions. This is to help see how accurate and efficient they can shoot while having others shoot around them that could create distractions, therefore making it somewhat similar to a battlefield.
The precision team, which are considered comparable to varsity level in other sports, finished strong, placing 2nd out of four teams. Top placers for the precision division of the tournament were Hailie Crimm, who placed 1st with scores of 194pts for prone, 183pts for standing, and 190pts for kneeling; Christian Garvin, who earned 2nd with 193pts for prone, 175pts for standing, and 167pts for kneeling. “Kneeling is one of the hardest ones out there,” said Garvin. “Just the little things. I need to find a better spot for my elbow and my knee so that my foot doesn’t start shaking from lack of blood flow, as well as an overall better spot for my kneeling role.”
Noah Potter placed third with 193pts for prone, 163pts for standing, and 178pts for kneeling. Cody Miller placed 4th with 185pts shots for prone, 156pts shots for standing, and 171pts for kneeling.
With it being the beginning of the season as well as the first match, the shooters are still working out some kinks. Zane Digiovanni has past experience competing in rifle tournaments and helped set up this year’s tournament. “Requires a lot of planning, I was the one that had to plan getting all the stuff moved out,” said Digiovanni.
The sporter class of the shooting tournament, considered the regular level of shooters, took second in their division as well. Corinthia Bates scored 183pts for prone, 163pts for standing, and 154pts for kneeling. Kawika Cope scored 182pts for prone, 145pts for standing, and 165pts for kneeling. Zachary Hudson scored 184pts for prone, 135pts for standing, and 154pts for kneeling. Devin Pollard scored 176pts for prone, 119pts for standing, and 141pts for kneeling.
Cope is a team captain for the sporter shooter division and has participated in JROTC for the majority of his high school career. “I think it’s pretty cool. I just basically have more responsibility over people. I do my best to help out the people who actually need it. I help the freshmen with getting their position right. Also helping out the team coach with getting sub plans for operations. Overall, just being there.”
JROTC presents high schoolers with the chance to get a glimpse into what it could be like to enlist into the military whether it be the Marines, Army, Air Force, or Navy. While being a JROTC cadet students can build skills such as leadership, discipline, and self confidence. They will also get an understanding for what it is like to love their country and have a greater sense of family. “Overall I just wanted to be a protector of my family and that’s what made me want to join the military, and I figured to help me stay on track I would join the ROTC program to keep my goals in line,” said Cope.
