The 2009 JROTC marksmanship competition season concluded on 27-28 March with the 7th National JROTC Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia. 156 JROTC Cadets representing 61 JROTC units from 24 states qualified for the event. The National Championship was the culmination of a long season that began last fall for these Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC Cadets. For many competitors, reaching the National Championship was also the culmination of many years of marksmanship training and goal setting to qualify for this event.

Typically each fall, the instructional phase of JROTC marksmanship programs begins with nearly 2,000 high school JROTC units and more than 50,000 cadets. In November and December, the competitive phase begins with Postal Competitions for the JROTC units that have marksmanship teams. This year a record 6,856 cadets from 1,246 JROTC units participated in those competitions that were administered by the CMP. From there, the top unit teams and at-large individual cadets advanced to separate Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC Service Championships that were conducted at the new Marksmanship Center at Camp Perry, Ohio. This year, 530 cadets and 136 unit teams participated in those shoulder-to-shoulder competitions. Ultimately qualifying for the National Championship was no easy task. The 156 cadets who competed at Fort Benning represented the top three-tenths of one percent of all cadets participating in JROTC marksmanship programs.

The JROTC Nationals offer both team and individual events in both sporter and precision classes. This year’s sporter qualifiers included four Army, four Marine Corps, four Navy and three Air Force teams. The Air Force has not yet ventured into precision class competition, but four unit teams each for the Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC programs competed for the precision class honors.

Cadets who had high individual scores, but whose teams did not qualify for the Nationals could advance as at-large individual qualifiers. 22 at-large qualifiers, six each from the Army, Marine Corps and Navy and four from the Air Force advanced to the Nationals in the sporter class. 18 at-large qualifiers, six each for the Army, Marine Corps and Navy advanced in the precision class.

For the competition, shooters fired two 3x20 matches over the course of two days. The top eight individuals in both the sporter and precision classes then shot a final on each day and their final average was added to their two-day aggregate score to determine the Individual National Champions in each class. Team scores consisted of the two-day aggregate scores of the four-person teams.

One of the most exciting match-ups of the weekend came in the precision team competition between last years JROTC National Champion, Union Grove HS of McDonough, Georgia and East Coweta HS of Sharpsburg, Georgia. The two schools are located within 40 miles of each other and compete shoulder-to-shoulder during their high school league rifle season. At Camp Perry in February, East Coweta won the 2009 Marine Corps Service Championship and Union Grove won the 2009 Navy Service Championship, so the stage was set for a showdown between these two interstate rivals. On the last day of competition, East Coweta shot on the first relay leaving all the pressure on Union Grove to top their strong team aggregate score of 4626. Going into kneeling Union Grove still had a chance to win, but in the end they dropped 3-points too many and finished with a team aggregate of 4623. Team members for the 2009 National JROTC Champion East Coweta HS were April Dunn, 1168, Courtney Duncan, 1166, Adam Grumbling, 1164, Tyler Dayton, 1128 and team coach MSgt John Skinner. Siegel HS of Murfreesboro, Tennessee rounded out the top three in the precision class with a 4570.

The team race for the sporter class was equally exciting with only five points separating the top four teams. 2009 Navy Service Champion, King George HS of King George, Virginia claimed the National Championship with a 4253. The team was lead by coach Fred Duckworth and firing team members Samuel Green, 1094, Kimberly Heitmeyer, 1058, Elizabeth Hampton, 1053 and Matthew Reed, 1048. King George was followed closely by Oviedo HS from Oviedo, Florida who finished with a team aggregate of 4249. The battle for third place ended in a tie between LaCueva HS from Albuquerque, New Mexico and Ozark HS in Ozark, Missouri. LaCueva broke the tie to claim third place by having the most center tens in the competition, 112 to Ozark’s 109.

East Coweta claimed a second title at the 2009 JROTC National Championships when April Dunn won the overall JROTC Individual National Championship in the precision class with an aggregate plus final average of 1263.15. The competition was very close as Dunn edged out Matthew Martin of Chugiak HS in Anchorage, Alaska who shot a 1261.3 to finish second. Alivia Yeager of Seneca HS in Louisville, Kentucky was not far behind, finishing in third place with a 1259.

William (Trey) Eades III from C.E. Byrd HS in Shreveport, Louisiana claimed the 2009 JROTC Individual Championship in the sporter class. Eades’ aggregate plus final average of 1194.75 edged out Christopher Potts of Buckhorn HS in New Market, Alabama who shot an 1191.45 to finish second. Deckard Day of LaCueva HS in Albuquerque, New Mexico shot an impressive 97.0 final on day one of the competition and finished with an 1183.0 aggregate to place third. It is also worth mentioning that Zachary Lowe of Clearfield HS in Clearfield, Utah became the first Air Force cadet to make it into a final at the JROTC National Air Rifle Championship. This is only the third year since the Air Force incorporated marksmanship into its JROTC curriculum. Lowe finished 10th overall, also the highest finish for an Air Force cadet at the JROTC Nationals.

The overall winning precision and sporter teams received $2,000 each, while the top sporter and precision teams representing each service received $1,000 each. CMP provided the cash awards, and they also provided an Anschutz 8002 Air Rifle to the overall precision class individual winner. Daisy Air Guns provided a Daisy 889 to the overall individual winner of the sporter class.

The following are overall and service champions from the 2009 JROTC Air Rifle Championship:

Precision Class Overall Team Champion:
East Coweta HS, Sharpsburg, Georgia, 4626

Precision Class Overall Individual Champions:
1st Place- April Dunn, East Coweta HS, Sharpsburg, Georgia, 1263.15
2nd Place- Matthew Martin, Chugiak HS, Anchorage, Alaska, 1261.3
3rd Place- Alivia Yeager, Seneca HS, Louisville, Kentucky, 1259

Sporter Class Overall Team Champion:
King George HS, King George, Virginia, 4253

Sporter Class Overall Individual Champions:
1st Place- William (Trey) Eades III, C.E. Byrd HS, Shreveport, Louisiana, 1194.75
2nd Place- Christopher Potts, Buckhorn HS, New Market, Alabama, 1191.45
3rd Place- Deckard Day, LaCueva HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1183

Army Final Rankings:
Precision Class Teams:
1st Place- Siegel HS, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
2nd Place- Del Valle HS, El Paso, Texas
3rd Place- Spanish Springs HS, Sparks, Nevada
4th Place- Marmion Academy, Aurora, Illinois

Precision Class Individuals:
1st Place- Kelly Audet, Burke HS, Omaha, NE
2nd Place- Bryan Zavala, Central Catholic HS, San Antonio, Texas
3rd Place- Meghan Asnes, Siegel HS, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Sporter Class Teams:
1st Place- Ozark HS, Ozark, Missouri
2nd Place- Buckhorn HS, New Market, Alabama
3rd Place- Killeen HS, Killeen, Texas
4th Place- Bogalusa HS, Bogalusa, Louisiana

Sporter Class Individuals:
1st Place- Amanda Aguilera, R.L. Paschal HS, Fort Worth, Texas
2nd Place- Tyler Ferguson, Ozark HS, Ozark, Missouri
3rd Place- Robert Rousey, Killeen HS, Killeen, Texas

Marine Corps Final Rankings:
Precision Class Teams:
1st Place- Shelby County HS, Shelbyville, Kentucky
2nd Place- LaCueva HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3rd Place- Eldorado HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Precision Class Individuals:
1st Place- Courtney Duncan, East Coweta HS, Sharpsburg, Georgia
2nd Place- Adam Grumbling, East Coweta HS, Sharpsburg, Georgia
3rd Place- Sarah Abonyi, LaCueva HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sporter Class Teams:
1st Place- LaCueva HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2nd Place- LaCueva HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3rd Place- Tuba City HS, Tuba City, Arizona
4th Place- R.S. Central HS, Rutherfordton, NC

Sporter Class Individuals:
1st Place- Adam Sloan, Sapulpa HS, Sapulpa, Oklahoma
2nd Place- Herman Trujillo, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3rd Place- Stephen Goldtooth, Tuba City HS, Tuba City, Arizona

Navy Final Ranking:
Precision Class Teams:
1st Place- Union Grove HS, McDonough, Georgia
2nd Place- Manzano HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3rd Place- Henry County HS, McDonough, Georgia
4th Place- Luella HS, Griffin, Georgia

Precision Class Individuals:
1st Place- Abigail Casey, Union Grove HS, McDonough, Georgia
2nd Place- Vanessa Montoya, Manzano HS, Albuquerque, New Mexico
3rd Place- Wesley White, Luella HS, Griffin, Georgia

Sporter Class Teams:
1st Place- Oviedo HS, Oviedo, Florida
2nd Place- West Ashley HS, Charleston, South Carolina
3rd Place- Zion Benton HS, Zion, Illinois

Sporter Class Individuals:
1st Place- Samuel Green, King George HS, King George, VA
2nd Place- Courtney Bates, Oviedo HS, Oviedo, Florida
3rd Place- Yvonne Swiontek, Zion Benton HS, Zion, Illinois

Air Force Final Ranking:
Sporter Class Teams:
1st Place- Clearfield HS, Clearfield, UT
2nd Place- Western Hills HS, Fort Worth, TX

Sporter Class Individuals:
1st Place- Zachary Lowe, Clearfield HS, Clearfield, Utah
2nd Place- Austin Maughan, Clearfield HS, Clearfield, Utah
3rd Place- Johann Diedericks, Monroe Area HS, Monroe, Georgia

Complete scores and rankings from the 2009 JROTC Air Rifle Championship can be found on the CMP website at, http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=4559. Photos from the event can be found at, http://www.odcmp.com/Photos.htm. Congratulations to all the JROTC unit teams and at-large individuals who competed in the JROTC Nationals at Fort Benning!