Moyer is Tops in Navy JROTC Precision and Ibarra Takes Sporter Crown

ANNISTON, ALABAMA – Kirsten Moyer, 18, a senior at Manzano High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and member of the Navy JROTC rifle team, fought off the demons that prevented her from capturing an individual precision air rifle championship last year to win this year’s Navy JROTC Service Championship on 12 February.

Kirsten Moyer of Manzano High School, New Mexico, prepares to fire a shot at the 2011 Navy JROTC Service Championships at the CMP’s Anniston Marksmanship Center, Alabama. Moyer won the individual precision air rifle championship.

Moyer’s 1263.2 aggregate score gave her a five-point margin over second place finisher Colt Gross, 15, of North August High School, South Carolina. Moyer qualified for the final with a three-point lead and extended it with a 98.2 in the final. In 2010, Moyer entered the championship final with a two-point qualifying lead and gave up nearly four points to Steven Frazier, the overall individual champion.

Patrick Nelms, 18, of Luella High School, Georgia, placed third in the event with an aggregate score of 1255.3.

It was Moyer’s second consecutive year to celebrate victory in the Navy service championship, having led her Manzano NJROTC team to a three-point win over Union Grove High School last year.

“It feels really good. Going into the final I was not really nervous. I just told myself to take good shots and accept the good shots,” she said later.

Moyer will attend Murray State University where she will shoot competitively and pursue sports medicine and athletic training and also keep an eye on making the U.S. Olympic team.

A competitor for nearly four years, Moyer was sidelined during her sophomore year at Manzano with a back injury but finished her junior and senior years in good health. She credits her first coach, LTC Zachary Forester, for helping build her foundation in shooting and working diligently with the team to get better.

Renz Ibarra reacts to winning the 2011 NJROTC Service Championship in the sporter air rifle classification. The Zion Benton High School, Illinois senior jumped from fifth place to first in the final to win the championship.

In a roller coaster sporter championship final, Renz Ibarra, 17, of Zion Benton High School, Illinois, leapfrogged four other shooters to win the Navy title with a one-point victory over Ashley Brown, 17, of Calvert High School, Maryland, 1180 to 1179.

Zion Benton High School Navy JROTC coach Dan Hackstein gives Renz Ibarra a “high-five” at the conclusion of the sporter air rifle final in Anniston, Alabama.

At the outset, Makayla Ragnone, 15, of Carson High School, Nevada held a five-point lead (1096) entering the sporter final with Brown second at 1091. Michael Trujillo, 17, also of Calvert High School, Zachary Frohn, 17, of Charlotte High School, Florida and Ibarra each qualified with a score of 1090.

Ashley Brown, of Calvert High School, Maryland, takes a moment to prepare for the upcoming final in the 2011 Navy JROTC individual service championship final in the sporter air rifle class. Brown captured second place in the event.

Brown and Ibarra came out of the gate firing 10s, then Ibarra sailed a 5.5 on his second shot, seemingly taking him out of the race, but he rallied, including three 10s and a pair of solid 9s while the rest of the field struggled, giving Ibarra the top spot on the podium.

Upon winning his individual sporter classification championship, Ibarra was still contemplating the final. “It is hard to take in right now, it has still not sunk in,” he said after his jump from fifth to first.

“I was content with fifth, but I thought I would like to move up to maybe second or third,” he said. “Moving up to first was not on my mind,” he added.

Also a four-year shooter, Ibarra will attend Marquette University in the fall where he will study engineering and participate in Navy ROTC, he said.

The Luella High School team, of Locust Grove, Georgia won the precision air rifle 2011 Navy JROTC team service championship on 12 February. The team is coached by CPO Timothy Welch.

In team shooting, Luella High School, Georgia comfortably won the precision championship with a 4597 aggregate over state rival Brunswick High School (4537) and defending team champion Manzano High School (4524).

Navy Chief Petty Officer Timothy Welch coaches Luella’s precision team and in four short years has reached his goal of winning the team title. Luella placed third last year and second in 2009 and broke through this year.

CPO Welch credits summer camps as the starting point of each season and said the team builds on what they learn in camps throughout the year.

Members of the winning Luella High team are Patrick Nelms, Brent Bonner, Wesley White, and Jory Folker. Second place Brunswick team members are Tori Spink, Katelyn Powley, Andrea Abel and Andrew Parker. The Manzano team is comprised of Kirsten Moyer, Briana Figueroa, Lauren Brave and Dylan Carr.

The Calvert High School NJROTC sporter rifle team is the 2011 Navy service champion. Calvert’s coach, USMC 1SGT (Ret.) Jeffrey Treiber said winning the championship “was surreal.”

Ashley Brown guided her Calvert High School sporter team to victory by nine points (4255) over runner-up King George High School, Virginia (4246) and David Crockett High School of Tennessee placed third with a combined aggregate score of 4235.

Calvert is coached by retired U.S. Marine 1SGT Jeffrey Treiber, who jump-started the program as coach in 2007 after serving in the Marines for 20-plus years. He said he began the program with just one shooter the first year and acquired a full team the following year.

Brown’s Calvert teammates are Michael Trujillo, Stephen Nicholas and Rachel Cloud. Members of the second place King George team are Matthew Ritenour, Kimberly Heitmeyer, Alessandra Williamson and Russell Ryder. The roster of the third place David Crockett squad consists of Shawn Wingerter, Jesse Adams, Matt Hawkins and Meghan Lockwood.

In 2011, his team is the best sporter squad in the Navy JROTC program. He said the team victory is “surreal.”

For complete results of the 2011 Navy Junior ROTC Service Championships, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=6491. To view photographs from the championship, log onto http://cmp1.zenfolio.com.

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