Pool Range at Fort Benning, GA is known as the Home of Champions, a name that usually refers to the Army Marksmanship Unit’s International Rifle Team that calls Pool Range their home. On 27-29 March 2008 the range was home for the 6th annual National JROTC Three-Position Air Rifle Championship. 140 JROTC cadets and 26 Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC unit teams qualified for the championship. Reaching the National Championship was an outstanding achievement for all athletes and JROTC Units involved, they were all champions in their own right.

Advancing to the National JROTC Championship was no easy task; first the shooters had to qualify for the Eastern and Western Region Championships from a pool of 5,974 individual entries in the JROTC Postal competition held in November and December. From the Postal match the field was trimmed to 414 athletes for the Eastern Region Championship that was held 15-16 February at Fort Benning, and 324 athletes for the Western Region Championship that was held 21-23 February at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The top athletes and teams from the Region Championships advanced to the National Championship, bringing together the best JROTC sporter and precision class air rifle shooters in the country for two days of 3x20 three-position air rifle competition.

These athletes lived up to their billing as some of the best junior shooters in the country, setting six National Records at the match. Samuel Green of King George HS in King George, VA tied a Navy JROTC 20 Shots Sporter Prone Record with a 197. Darrell Robbins of Tuba City HS in Tuba City, AZ broke the Marine Corps JROTC 20 Shots Sporter Kneeling Record with a 189. Union Grove HS from McDonough, GA broke the Navy JROTC Precision Team 3x20 Record with a 2319. New records were also set for Air Force JROTC who had teams entered in the JROTC National Championship for the first time. The Air Force JROTC air rifle program was established in 2006 and has since been quickly growing. Air Force JROTC cadet Austin Maughn of Clearfield HS in Clearfield, UT set an Air Force JROTC 20 Shots Sporter Kneeling Record with a 187. Setting multiple records for the Air Force JROTC was Johann Diedericks of Monroe Area HS in Monroe, GA. On day one Diedericks set a new Air Force JROTC 20 Shots Sporter Standing Record with a 160, which he broke on day two with a 162.

Awards for the National JROTC Championship were broken into individual and team events in both the sporter and precision classes. The overall team champions and the top three individuals in each class were recognized. Also, the top teams and individuals from each service were honored, and the top three individuals on the first and second day of competition received awards. The top overall precision team at the 2008 National JROTC Championship was Union Grove HS Navy JROTC from McDonough, GA. Their two-day aggregate score of 4626 gave them a commanding 20-point lead over second place East Coweta HS Marine Corps JROTC of Sharpsburg, GA. Scoring team members for Union Grove were Abigail Casey, 1169, Juli Yoder, 1154, Tiffani Potter, 1152 and Steven Frazier, 1151. SCPO Ralph Varnadoe coached Union Grove HS Navy JROTC. The team championship was not the only hardware that Union Grove HS claimed this year; Abigail Casey won the National JROTC Precision Individual Championship with an aggregate score of 1268.8 (2 3x20 scores plus finals average). Casey jumped into the lead on day one after moving from second place to first in the final and she never looked back. Her 585 plus 100.6 on the second day ensured her victory and gave her a solid 6-point lead over Navy JROTC cadet Kyle Phillips of Luella HS in Stockbridge, GA who finished second overall.

In the sporter class, the National JROTC Team Championship went to Ozark HS Army JROTC from Ozark, MO. The team finished with a 34-point lead over second place King George HS from King George, VA with a two-day aggregate score of 4331. The team was coached by 1SG Terrence Thompson and scoring team members were Shawn Spradling, 1100, Kelsea Hunt, 1089, Rob Thompson, 1078 and Jacob Edwards, 1064. The individual championship went to Xentri Garza of RL Paschal HS Army JROTC in Fort Worth, TX who shot an 1196.2 aggregate. Unlike the precision individual championship, the sporter class was still up for grabs on day two of the competition. On day one NJROTC Cadet Michael Call entered the final in eighth place, but shot an outstanding 95.4 final to move into first place. On day two Call entered the final in forth place for the day, but Garza’s 559 plus 93.7 final was too much to over come and Call fell back to third place overall. Garza was presented with a Daisy 887 sporter air rifle for her victory, courtesy of Daisy Air Guns. Both of the championship teams were presented with $2,000 checks from the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The top sporter and precision teams in each service received $1,000 checks from the CMP.

In addition to match awards, there were also 14 cadets who were awarded their Junior Distinguished Badges at the awards banquet. The Junior Distinguished Badge is awarded for consistent excellence in major three-position air rifle competitions over an extended period of time. The highest ranking competitors in state and national level three-position matches can earn from 3 to 10 points in one competition, and must earn a total of 30 points to receive the badge. The top 50% of the competitors at the National JROTC Championship earned between 4 and 8 EIC (Excellence in Competition) points. Since the badge was introduced in 2001 only 205 juniors have earned the award. SGT Brandon Green was on hand at the closing awards banquet to present the most recent Junior Distinguished Badges recipients. SGT Green received Junior Distinguished Badge #1 when he was a JROTC Cadet in 2001. Now he is a member of the AMU’s Service Rifle Team and earned his Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 2005.

The awards banquet, which was held at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center Ironworks Building, was an impressive affair with over 400 people in attendance. The guest speaker was Mr. John McLaurin III, Director of the Human Resources Policy Directorate for the Department of the Army. McLaurin retired with the rank of Colonel after serving in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He was also directly involved in drafting the legislation that created the CMP in the mid-1990’s. In his speech, McLaurin touched on the leadership qualities exemplified by the JROTC cadets in the 2008 National JROTC Championships.

Congratulations to the winners of the National JROTC Championship and to everyone who participated in the event. All are outstanding representatives of their schools and the sport of three-position air rifle. For a complete listing of scores from the 2008 National JROTC Championship please visit, http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2819. For photos from the event please visit, http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/08/JROTC/index.htm.  Download the Final Results Bulletin at http://www.odcmp.com/3P/Results/08JROTCBULLETIN.pdf.

Fourteen cadets were awarded their Junior Distinguished Badge during the closing awards banquet. They are: Sam Green, King George HS, VA, #190; Amanda Smith, King George HS, VA #191; Alivia Yeager, Shelby County HS, KY, #192; Matthew Branyon, Henry County HS, GA, #193; Billie Castle, Craigmont HS, TN, #194; Marco Aguayo, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo HS, TX, #195; Jacob Edwards, Ozark HS, MO, #197; Katie Fuller, Manzano HS, NM, #199; Gordon McElroy, Rayville HS, LA, #200; Anthony Freda, Wall HS, NJ, #202; Helena Long, Burlington-Edison HS, WA; Ashley Manygoats, Tuba City HS, AZ; Winston Dorian, La Cueva HS, NM; and Erica Windust, North HS, IA.