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For 124 individual JROTC cadets and 23 Army, Marine Corps, and Navy JROTC teams March Madness took on a whole new meaning as they went shoulder-to-shoulder in the JROTC National Air Rifle Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia, 23-25 March. Like the teams competing in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the road to the Championship was grueling for all those who advanced to the final round. The field began with 5,358 competitors and 974 teams, competing in their respective JROTC Service Postal Matches which concluded in December. From these Postals each Service advanced their top Sporter and Precision teams and at-large individuals to JROTC Region Championships. These competitors qualified by brigades/area commands, districts or areas to JROTC Eastern and Western Region Competitions held in February at Fort Benning (Eastern) and the Olympic Training Center in Colorado (Western).
The field was narrowed to 469 competitors and 110 teams for the Region Championships, all shooting to make it to the “Big Dance” at Fort Benning in March. Making it to the Championship round was not an easy task; only the top two teams and top three at-large individuals, sporter and precision, for each Service, advanced from the Eastern and Western Regions. But at the conclusion of the February regionals, the stage was set and the top JROTC Air Rifle teams and competitors began gearing up to go shoulder-to-shoulder for JROTC National Championship honors.
As with any National Championship, top performances are expected and this year’s JROTC National Air Rifle Championship was no exception. Twelve National Records were tied or broken over the two-day event, and two team and two individual champions were crowned.
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Lauren Strebel of Owen J Roberts HS in Pottstown, PA was the 2006 Overall Individual Sporter Champion.
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Leading the way in setting new records was Overall Sporter Champion Lauren Strebel from Owen J Roberts HS NJROTC in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Strebel dominated both days of competition and won the overall aggregate by seven points. On the first day of competition she posted an impressive 96.1 final to claim the Navy 3x20 plus Final Record with a 645.1. On the second day, Strebel improved her standing score by nine points to claim both the Navy 20-shot Standing Record with a 181, and the Navy 3x20 Record with a 556. This put Strebel on pace to break her 3x20 plus Final Record she had set the day before, but she shot a 4 early in the final round to throw her off pace. This did not shake her up, though, and she still went on to shoot an 87.6 final and remained the top shooter of the day and the Overall Sporter Champion.
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Megan Smith of McEachern HS NJROTC in Power Springs, GA was the 2006 Overall Individual Precision Champion.
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After the first day of competition in the Precision class, Overall Precision Champion Megan Smith of McEachern HS NJROTC in Powder Springs, Georgia found herself three points behind Kent Wilcox of Shelby County HS MCJROTC in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Wilcox tied the Marine Corps 20-shot Standing Record with 195 on the first day, but the second day got off to a rough start when he shot a 193 in prone and slipped behind Smith in the point standings. Smith won the Overall Championship by one point with a 1259.55.
The Sporter Team Championship also saw several records broken. Tuba City HS MCJROTC from Arizona shot a 2144 to set a new Marine Corps 3x20 Team Record. The Tuba City record came on the second day of competition when both Tuba City and R. L. Paschal HS AJROTC of Fort Worth, Texas made valiant efforts to catch the Overall Sporter Team Champion, Bogalusa HS AJROTC from Bogalusa, Louisiana. This was the third year in a row for a Bogalusa win, but this year was the closest ever. The final margin between Bogalusa and R. L. Paschal was only three points, while Tuba City was only 17 points off the winning score.
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Defending 2005 JROTC Air Rifle National Champions, Bogalusa HS of Bogalusa, LA, claimed the Title again in 2006 to become the Overall Sporter Team Champions.
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The Bogalusa team was lead by MAJ Ricky Fredieu, Coach, and firing members Blake Phillips, who finished second in the Overall Individual Match, Tucker Lee, Cory Camp, and James Bell. Though the team did not reach the National Record score of 2145 they set in February at the Western Region Championship, they posted solid scores on both days to win the Overall Sporter Team Championship by three points with a 4259 aggregate score. The Bogalusa victory was especially remarkable because Bogalusa lies just 60 miles north of New Orleans and took a direct hit from the eye of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation there was so severe that it took several weeks before the Bogalusa schools could reopen last fall and it remained a major challenge to get students to focus on preparing for rifle matches when their families faced monumental rebuilding challenges.
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Shelby County HS from Shelbyville, KY claimed the 2006 Overall Precision Team Championship, their third JROTC National Championship in four years.
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Also jumping into an early lead was Precision Team Champion Shelby County HS MCJROTC from Shelbyville, Kentucky. The team was coached by MSgt Gerald Lyons, whose teams have won JROTC Nationals team titles three out of four years. The firing members of the team were Kent Wilcox, who finished second in the overall individual competition, Logan Fox, Ashley Farley, and Chase Wininger. The team posted a Marine Corps National 3x20 Team Record at the Eastern Region in February with a 2314. They did not reach a record breaking performance at the Nationals, but after two strong days won the Overall Title by seven points with a 4596 aggregate, after holding off a strong challenge from Colquitt County High School MCJROTC from Moultrie, Georgia. Colquitt County finished with a 4586. They started the day ten points behind Shelby County, but just could not close the gap in a high-pressure team finish that was closely watched by Major General W. Montague Winfield, Commanding General of the United States Army Cadet Command.
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CMP Director Gary Anderson, holds a plaque presented by Bogalusa High School Army JROTC Instructor, Major Ricky Fredieu. The Bogalusa HS JROTC unit presented the plaque to the CMP to recognize efforts by the CMP staff to gather and ship clothing, cleaning supplies and school materials to Bogalusa in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Other head table guests in the photo are (l. to r.) COL Carlos Glover, Director, Army JROTC Program; Allan Cors, CMP Board of Directors; Lt. General John Crosby, CMP Board of Directors; Anderson; Major General W. Montague Winfield, Commanding General, Army Cadet Command; J. B. Hudson, retired Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army and Dr. William McHenry, Director, USMC JROTC Program.
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At the conclusion of the competition all of the cadets were honored at the JROTC Air Rifle National Championship Banquet. The Overall Team Champions were seated at the head table with distinguished guests. Major General Winfield was the guest speaker for the event. MG Winfield spoke of values like honor and integrity that JROTC cadets exemplify. He closed his inspirational comments by telling the cadets, “the only thing between the possible and the impossible is you.”
Not only were the Overall Champions recognized, the top teams and individuals from each Service in each class received awards. Also, five new Junior Distinguished Badges were awarded to Kyle Phillips, David Garman, Lauren Strebel, Jessica Denning, and Amber Criss.
Congratulations to this year's JROTC Air Rifle National Champions and to all of the JROTC unit teams and cadets who advanced to the National Championship round. Complete results are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=1159, photos from the event can be viewed at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/06/JROTCNationals/index.htm. Thank you to everyone who made this year’s event a huge success!
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