CAMP PERRY, OHIO - The best of the nation's Marine Corps and Air Force Junior ROTC shooting teams and individuals braved northern Ohio's snow and cold to compete in the second of three phases of three-position air rifle 26-27 February. Some cadets left with hopes of winning a title for their JROTC service branch at the National Championship on 25-27 March in Anniston, Alabama.
All three individual overall winners set new JROTC service records en route to victory.
Adam Grumbling, 17, of East Coweta High School, Sharpsburg, Georgia won the Marine Corps precision air rifle JROTC service championship with an aggregate score of 1280.6. Grumbling set a new USMC JROTC precision air rifle record with his second day 3x20 plus final score of 692.6, eclipsing an eight-year-old record of 688.7, set by Aaron Shader in June 2001.
|
|
Adam Grumbling of East Coweta High School was the 2010 Marine Corps Precision Individual Service Champion.
|
Logan Hartzog, 17, of R-S Central High School, Rutherfordton, North Carolina captured the USMC sporter air rifle JROTC title with an overall score of 1213.9. On Day 1 Hartzog tied the USMC JROTC 20 shot kneeling record of 189 and set a new kneeling record of 191 on Day 2.
|
|
The Marine Corps JROTC Sporter Champion was Logan Hartzog of R-S Central High School.
|
Allen Cohenour, 15 of Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico took top individual honors in the Air Force Junior ROTC air rifle competition with an aggregate total of 1147.8. Cohenour obliterated the Air Force JROTC 20 shot kneeling record by five points on Day 1 and increased it by another four points on Day 2, firing a 183 in the kneeling phase.
|
|
Volcano Vista HS shooter Allen Cohenour was the Air Force Sporter Individual Champion.
|
The weekend's event was the Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC shooters' opportunity to advance to Anniston having qualified for the Camp Perry event via postal matches fired in the fall of 2009. The Army and Navy JROTC service championships were held here earlier in February. JROTC cadets from each of the four service branches were invited to compete in the tournament.
The two-day competition featured two rounds each of precision and sporter air rifle matches and a final match for the top eight individual shooters on Day 2 for the Marine Corps. The Air Force JROTC, which began its air rifle program in 2007, competed in the sporter class only, but also fired two 3x20 rounds and a final concurrent with the Marine cadets.
In the USMC precision air rifle competition, Alivia Yeager, 17, of Seneca High School in Louisville, Kentucky placed second with an aggregate score of 1268.3, followed by Melissa Quartarone, 17, of Parkview High School, Lilburn, Georgia near Stone Mountain, with a total score of 1264.
|
|
Alivia Yeager of Seneca High School MCJROTC placed second in the Marine Corps Precision Individual Service Championship.
|
Grumbling, who held a one-point lead over Quartarone after Day 1, said he came to Camp Perry to enjoy the matches. Neither Grumbling's mother Laura or his coach, MSGT John Skinner, said anything to him about breaking the Marine Corps' JROTC 3 x 20 plus final record - they both wanted him to shoot for fun with no pressure entering the final.
|
|
Melissa Quartarone, 17, of Parkview High School, Lilburn, Georgia near Stone Mountain, placed third in the Marine Corps Precision Individual Service Championship.
|
"I really came up here to have fun. Winning was not at the top of my list. I don't look at other shooters' scores, but I know what I can shoot so I just focus on that," he said afterward.
As a youngster, Grumbling said he got his start in the sport by shooting plastic army men and tin cans and as he got older he enjoyed shooting moving targets with paintballs or air soft guns. He joined the East Coweta rifle team as a freshman as their fifth shooter and wants to help his team win another state championship.
"I have been asked why I close my eyes before every shot - I close them so I can drown out all that is going on around me, and to calm me down," Grumbling said.
In Marine Corps sporter class, Hartzog held off a determined Thomas Wheeless, 16, of Phoebus High School, Hampton, Virginia. Hartzog and Wheeless entered the final five points apart and Hartzog picked up another point during the final to ensure his victory.
|
|
Thomas Wheeless, 16, of Phoebus High School, Hampton, Virginia placed second in the Marine Corps Sporter Individual Service Championship.
|
"Every time I shoot a nine, I tell myself I have to come back and shoot a 10 and I really try to do that," Hartzog said. "The last couple of months I've raised my expectations.
Regarding the final, Hartzog said he was almost frantic. "Oh my gosh, I can't describe how nervous I was!"
"But I've been paying attention to the little stuff - eating right, keeping my blood pressure under control, taking good shots," he said. Good shots simply eliminate bad shots."
In the Air Force sporter, the final couldn't have been much tighter. Only 12 points separated the eight finalists, but Cohenour didn't rattle and held on for the win. Ray Chhith, 17, of Western Hills High School, Fort Worth, Texas, was one point behind entering the final but fell to third when Robert Estrada, 16, of Clearfield High School, Utah made a run at Cohenour, tying him in the final with an 88.8. Estrada moved into second place with a 10.3 on his seventh shot and finished with a 10.5, but Cohenour's three-point lead held up for the overall victory.
|
|
Robert Estrada, 16, of Clearfield High School, Utah, was the silver medal winner in the Air Force Sporter Individual Service Championship.
|
"If I had placed a few more nines and 10s in the last five shots, it would have been close," Estrada said. "But I had a great time at Camp Perry and made some good friends here," he added. "I expected most of the shooters to keep to themselves but they were really open, which made it fun."
The overall match was really won in the standing and kneeling positions on Day 2 where Cohenour averaged more than five and eight points higher than his final competitors, respectively.
"I normally shoot about 179 kneeling. I was off shooting prone both days. I think I was thinking about how big the championship was and where I was sitting on the bracket," he added.
Cohenour said he was feeling pressure entering the final but fell back on his normal routine for support.
"I didn't think about everyone else who was shooting - I was just thinking that I was back at my school shooting," he said.
In the four-member Marine Corps precision team shooting, La Cueva High School of Albuquerque, New Mexico took first place honors, scoring an aggregate total of 4585 points, edging Seneca High School of Louisville, Kentucky by a single point. The team of Deckard Day, Landon Shankles, Michael Abonyi and Herman Trujillo were coached by 1stSgt Alberto Griego.
|
|
La Cueva High School of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the top Precision Team at the 2010 Marine Corps Service Championship.
|
Seneca High School finished second with an aggregate score of 4584. Team members include Alivia Yeager, Karina Schmidt, Joe Zoeller and Charles Roberts and are coached by SgtMaj Gary Wilson.
|
|
Seneca High School Precision Team finished second during the 2010 Marine Corps Service Championship.
|
Third place went to Colquitt County High School of Moultrie, Georgia with an aggregate total of 4548. Team members are Caitlin Davis, Erica Soto, Jeffrey Peacock and Richard Boyd. The team is coached by GySgt Emmett Bryant Jr.
|
|
Colquitt County High School of Moultrie, Georgia, finished third in the Precision Team Championship.
|
In the Marine Corps sporter class team scoring, R-S Central High School placed first with an aggregate score of 4312. Coached by Maj. Russell Armentrout, firing team members are Logan Hartzog, Jessica Eberhart, Steven Murphy and Martina Carson.
|
|
The top sporter team was R-S Central High School MCJROTC. The team was presented with a Crosman Challenger 2009 donated by Crosman Air Guns.
|
Des Moines North High School, Iowa placed second with an aggregate score of 4261. Team members Michael Stroud, Brandon Wicker, Lucas Rohrbaugh and Emily Allen were coached by GySgt Michael Gettler.
|
|
Des Moines North High School placed second in the Marine Corps Sporter Team Service Championship.
|
Tuba City High School, Tuba City, Arizona placed third as team members Stephen Goldtooth, Kevin Haskey, Christina Charley and Nicholas Seimy fired an aggregate total score of 4246 points. Tuba City is coached by GySgt Tim Shaner.
|
|
Tuba City High School, Tuba City, Arizona, placed third in the Marine Corps Sporter Team Service Championship.
|
In the Air Force sporter team rankings, the Volcano Vista High School team of Allen Cohenour, Jacob Harris, Jocelyn Caro and Channda Mitchell fired an aggregate score of 4135 to win first place. Volcano Vista is coached by Major Tom Campbell.
|
|
The top three AFJROTC Sporter Teams. Volcano Vista High School was the top finisher and was presented a Crosman Challenger 2009 donated by Crosman Air Guns. Sunnyslope High School placed second and South Anchorage High School placed third.
|
Sunnyslope High School of Phoenix, Arizona placed second in the team match with an aggregate score of 4114. Team members are Carlos Perea, Taylor Russ, Ethan Vance and Alejandra Amaya and they are coached by SMSgt Vyron McCraw.
Placing third was South Anchorage High School of Anchorage, Alaska with an aggregate total of 4073. South Anchorage team members are Leah Gamble, Kenneth Corona, Jason Cusack and Katherine Beasley. The team is coached by MSgt Keith Coulter.
It was the third consecutive JROTC championship weekend at CMP North's Marksmanship Center, equipped with 80 electronically-scored targets. The high-tech targets and instant scoring combined with CMP’s Competitor Tracker enabled the CMP to post live, continually updated results on its website. Viewers could watch virtual target images scored in real-time. This year there were more than 70,000 page views on the National USMC/AFJROTC Air Rifle Championship results page during the two days of competition.
To view final scores from the Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC Championship log onto
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5394.
To view a list of qualifiers for the National Junior ROTC Air Rifle Championships to be held this week at the CMP South Marksmanship Center, on 25-27 March, log onto
http://odcmp.com/3P/Qualifier%20List.pdf. For photos you can visit the CMP’s
new photo gallery website at
http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.
NEXT ARTICLE
|
