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| The JROTC Western Region Air Rifle Championship took place at the U. S. Olympic Shooting Center on the Olympic Training Center campus in Colorado Springs.
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After a successful Eastern Region Championship, all that was left to set the stage for the 2006 National JROTC Air Rifle Championship was the Western Region Championship held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado on February 23rd-25th. 256 individuals and 52 teams representing different Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC units went shoulder-to-shoulder to determine who would win Region Championship titles for their services and who would advance to the JROTC National Championship.
Qualifying for the Western Region Championship was a new experience for many of the cadets in attendance who where competing in their first major competition. To compete in the Western Region Championship, athletes and teams had to first distinguish themselves within their respective services in the JROTC Air Rifle Postal Matches that concluded in December. These Postals were also used to determine who advanced to the Eastern Region Championship which was held on 9-11 February at Fort Benning, GA.
The region competition was divided into team and individual categories in both Sporter and Precision Classes. Each Service advanced their top two teams plus their top three at-large individuals in each class to the JROTC National Championship that will take place at Fort Benning on 23-25 March.
Not only was competing at this level a new experience for many of the shooters, so was the facility. The Olympic Training Center is home to the U.S. National Team; it is one of the top shooting complexes in the country. National Rifle Coach David Johnson added to the event by providing two clinics for competitors and their coaches. Though the competition remained the highlight of the weekend and there were many close finishes in the fight to advance to the JROTC Nationals.
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| The Bogalusa, Louisiana, High School Army JROTC team fired the highest overall sporter team score in qualifying for the JROTC National Championship with a 2145 total. Team members were Blake Phillips, Tucker Lee, Cory Camp and James Bell.
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The top Sporter teams for the Army were Bogalusa HS from Louisiana, 2145, and R.L Paschal HS from Texas, 2133. The top finishers for the Navy were Carson HS from Nevada, 2118, and Oak Harbor HS from Washington, 2094. Advancing for the Marine Corps were an Arizona team, Tuba City HS, 2089, and an Iowa team, North HS, 2034.
The Marine Corps Precision teams that advanced to the JROTC Nationals were both from New Mexico, La Cueva HS, 2279, and El Dorado HS, 2225. The Navy’s top two schools were Manzano HS, from New Mexico, 2264, and Joshua HS from Texas, 2262. For the Army, Cañon City HS out of Colorado, 2264, and Douglas MacArthur HS from Texas, 2262, both advanced.
The top eight individual finishers at the conclusion of the regular 3x20 course of fire advanced to a final round that was conducted for each service in both rifle classes. In finals an additional ten-shots were fired in the standing position. Final round scores are added to the competitors’ scores to determine individual winners.
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| Both floors of the OTC Shooting Center were converted into three-position air rifle ranges that provided a total of 70 firing points for the JROTC Western Region Air Rifle Championship.
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In the Sporter Class, the individual medalists for the Army were Joseph Massey, Buckhorn HS, Alabama, 633; Daniel Hilario, R. L. Paschal HS, Texas, 626, and Blake Phillips, Bogalusa HS, Louisiana, 624. Navy JROTC individual medalists were Wesley Marks, Oak Harbor HS, Washington, 625; Cody Stokes, Carson HS, Nevada, 622, and Thomas Chandler, Oak Harbor HS, Washington, 622. Marine Corps winners were Parker Tomasi, La Cueva HS, New Mexico, 616; Darrell Robbins, Tuba City HS, Arizona, 611, and Jaymie Van Zandt, North HS, Iowa, 607.
Members of teams that advanced to the JROTC Nationals are automatically entered in the individual competitions there. In addition, the top three individuals who are not on qualifying teams also advance to the Nationals. The top three at-large individuals for the Army were Massey; Brian Byrd of C.E. Byrd HS in Louisiana, 622, and Jessica Denney of Ozark HS in Missouri, 621. The Navy’s top qualifiers were Zion-Benton HS teammates, David Piotrowski, 619, Charles Roberts, 617, and Anthony Melvin, 609. They will travel from Illinois to compete at the Nationals. The Marine Corps JROTC at-large individuals will be Tomasi, Bennett Lee, also from La Cueva HS, 594 and Ian Minear of Sapulpa HS in Oklahoma, 525.
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| Erin Lorentzen, Concordia Lutheran HS Army JROTC, Fort Wayne, Indiana, placed second overall in the Precision Class and qualified for the JROTC Nationals on an at-large basis.
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Individual Army medal winners in the Precision Class were Jeff Hartless, Cañon City HS, Colorado, 679; Erin Lorentzen from Concordia Lutheran HS in Indiana, 676; and Amber Criss of Walla Walla HS in Washington, 668. Army at-large qualifiers were Lorentzen, Criss and Kira Brown of Spanish Springs HS in Nevada
The Navy Precision Class medalists were John White, Joshua HS, Texas, 663; Cody Abbott, Joshua HS, Texas, 661 and Nancy Perez, Manzano HS, New Mexico, 660. Navy JROTC at-large Precision qualifiers were Ameer Watson of West Mesa HS in New Mexico, 660, Ameer’s teammate Matthew Saiz, 564 and Montwood HS cadet Alan Garcia, 560, of Texas.
All three Marine Corps JROTC Precision Class medal winners represented La Cueva HS in New Mexico. They were Danielle McCarthy, 668; Samuel Vaughn, 665 and Steven Christiansen, 660. At-large Marine Corps qualifiers were Garrett Smith-Barhs, 553, and Jenny Dingman, 510, both from North HS in Iowa.
At the conclusion of the competitions, a combined closing banquet and awards ceremony was held with 424 people in attendance. Robert Mitchell, a former member of the Army Marksmanship Unit and the current Executive Director of Operations at USA Shooting, was the guest speaker for the event. Those advancing to the next round now return home to prepare to compete for the National JROTC Air Rifle Championship.
For complete results from the 2006 Western Region JROTC Air Rifle Championship go to, http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=1158.
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