CAMP PERRY, OHIO - Steven Frazier, 17, of McDonough, Georgia, a senior shooting for Union Grove High School NJROTC, won the precision air rifle title at the 2010 Navy JROTC Service Championships here Saturday, 13 February at the Camp Perry Marksmanship Center.

Yvonne Swiontek, 17, of Beach Park, Illinois, a senior NJROTC shooter from Zion-Benton High School in Zion, IL, captured the sporter class championship. Swiontek also won the Camp Perry Open sporter championship just a few weeks earlier.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program hosted the best Navy JROTC air rifle shooters from around the nation and the top six individuals and four teams in each class have qualified to compete in the 2010 National JROTC Championship on 25-27 March at the CMP Marksmanship Center in Anniston, Alabama against qualifiers from US Army, Marine Corps and Air Force Junior ROTC individuals and teams.

Qualifying for the service championship and national championship began in the fall of 2009 as a postal competition where shooters from each region competed at their home ranges and mailed targets to CMP for scoring. Top qualifiers earned their way to Camp Perry for the semifinal round of qualifying for nationals in Anniston.

In precision class, Frazier trailed Kirsten Moyer, 17, of Manzano High School NJROTC 1177 to 1175 heading into the Saturday final following the two-day three-position air rifle competition. Frazier was also tied with Chugiak, Alaska's Matthew Martin at 1175.

Frazier fired a 100 even to Moyer's 96.7 in the final to give him the overall victory by 1.3 points, 1275 to 1273.7. Frazier set a new Navy 3x20 plus final national record of 691.0 and a new Navy kneeling record of 199-15. Martin, 17, a senior shooting with the Chugiak HS NJROTC, finished four points behind at 1271, firing a 96 in the final

Martin set a new Navy JROTC record in Day 1 competition with a 593, eclipsing Abigail Casey's record of 589 in the precision 3x20, set in the National Junior Olympic Championship in July, 2008.

"It was my personal best, but I didn't realize I broke any records," Martin said after his Day 1 session. "I was not real happy shooting an eight and a nine to finish kneeling and standing," he added.

Martin, the 2009 NJROTC precision class champion, grew up in Riverton, Wyoming, and has been shooting competitively since he was eight years old, the last three years in precision air rifle.

Moyer's solid run to the precision class final follows a fine performance in October when she set three national records and a New Mexico state record in precision air rifle competition at the New Mexico Military Institute Drill and Marksmanship competition in Roswell. In that event, her score of 298 out of 300 was a new Navy record and a new US record for her age group.

Moyer tied her own Navy JROTC kneeling record of 199 on Day 1. That record is shared with four other NJROTC shooters including Frazier.

Swiontek, the 2009 defending NJROTC sporter champion, continued her winning ways in the service championship, taking a Day I lead of 559 over second place finisher Cody Harlan at 549. Harlan, 18, of Sparks, Nevada, shooting for Reed High School NJROTC, outscored Swiontek 543 to 536 on Day 2 in the 3x20, but Swiontek widened her overall lead with a solid performance in the final and won the title over Harlan with an aggregate score of 1190.4 to 1181.1.

Alessandra Williamson, 16, of King George, Virginia, placed third in sporter class, with an aggregate score of 1168.

The championship consisted of two days of three-position 3x20 air rifle marksmanship, totaling 120 shots, plus a 10-shot standing final featuring the top eight individuals. The final, which sometimes decides the overall winner, is held at the conclusion of Day 2 firing.

In precision class team scoring, the winning squad was Manzano High School of Albuquerque, New Mexico, coached by Capt. Westley Logan, USMC. Team members, with an aggregate score of 4603, are Kirsten Moyer, Katie Fuller, Vanessa Montoya and Leona Serna.

In second place with an aggregate score of 4600 was Union Grove High School, of McDonough, Georgia, with team members Steven Frazier, Alex Landers, Nolan Ripple and Alexander Hughes. Union Grove is coached by Senior Chief Petty Officer Ralph Varnadoe.

Third place was won by Luella High School, of Locust Grove, Georgia, with an aggregate score of 4585. Team members are Patrick Nelms, Wesley White, Jacob Brown and Jackson Bailey, and coached by Chief Petty Officer Timothy Welch.

Fourth place in precision class went to Chugiak High School of Chugiak, Alaska, with an aggregate score of 4579. Team members are Matthew Martin, Jimmy Zaken, James Klepzig and Alan Mulcahy. Chugiak is coached by Master Sergeant William Dill.

The winner of the team competition in sporter class was Zion-Benton High School of Zion, Illinois, with an aggregate score of 4280. Team members include Yvonne Swiontek, Ariel Morales, Renz Ibarra and Alyssa Siegfried. Zion-Benton is coached by Master Chief Petty Officer Dan Hackstein.

Second place was won by King George High School of King George, Virginia, with an aggregate score of 4257. Team members are Alessandra Williamson, Elizabeth Hampton, Matthew Ritenour and Kimberly Heitmeyer. The team is coached by Commander Fred Duckworth.

Reed High School, of Sparks, Nevada, placed third with an aggregate score of 4238. Reed HS members are Cody Harlan, Brandi Streit, Karen Black and Stephen Young and coached by Senior Chief Petty Officer Darwin Sharpe.

The fourth place team, with an aggregate score of 4212, was Westside High School of Augusta, Georgia, with team members Dustin Graham, Markesha McKay, D'Warren Daniels and Elijah Baker. The team is coached by Maj Henry Mitchell, USMC (Ret).

CMP’s Competitor Tracker, an Internet-based results system, also enabled viewers at home to see live, continually updated results on the CMP Web site. Live target images of the shooters' pellet strikes in the JROTC Championships were also displayed on the Internet in real-time.

Since the inception of Competition Tracker, many schools have taken advantage of the technology and set up projection screens in classrooms so students are able watch their classmates compete.

Congratulations to the cadets and NJROTC instructors, volunteers, parents and supporters for making this event a success. To see the complete results from the Navy JROTC Service Championships, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5392. Pictures from the event are also posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos.htm.

The US Army JROTC Service Championships was contested at Camp Perry on 18-20 February and the concurrent US Marine Corps/US Air Force JROTC Service Championships will be conducted at Camp Perry on 25-27 February.

To view more information about the service championships long onto http://www.odcmp.com/3P/JROTC.htm. 

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