The precision class at the 2024 JROTC National Three-Position Championship was a rinse and repeat version of last year’s competition—with both Granbury High School and Danjela (Jordan) De Jesus, 18, of the Camden County High School Navy JROTC in Georgia, reclaiming their titles in the individual and team competitions.
During the 2023 JROTC National Three-Position Championship, De Jesus, a Navy cadet, not only led the precision air rifle class at the national event but also within all three phases of the competition series. She returned in 2024 and again captured her place at the top of the results list—maintaining the high score in the qualifying round of the event before moving on to be the last competitor standing in the elimination final.
Likewise, the Marine Corps Granbury High School team continued its streak by reaching its seventh consecutive win with an overall score of 4700-313X—more than 40 points over the competition. Firing members were Viola Allen, Kameron Wells, Julia Czernik and Kennedy Wells.
“This is one of the most talented groups of athletes in my 13 years of coaching,” the team’s senior Marine instructor, Lt. Col. Scott Casey said. “I knew we had a great group from top to bottom at the beginning of the year—and they proved that.”
The JROTC National sporter and precision air rifle event for high school athletes was held March 21-23 at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center in Ohio. Along with Nationals, the JROTC Championships also included a Postal Match along with Regional Service competitions.
Finding second in the individual precision match was Marine Corps cadet Monique Hernandez, 18, of Rio Rancho High School, N.M., as Navy cadet Brooklyn Reames, 17, of Joshua High School, Texas, earned third.
In another outstanding performance, Army cadet Piper Wentland, 18, of Concordia Lutheran High School, Ind., secured a national record for her overall precision 20-shot standing score of 200-17X—cleaning the stage on both day one and day two of the event.
In sporter, an exciting final that ended with a tie-breaking shoot-off saw Navy cadet Emma Doyle, 17, of Calvert High School, Md., edging out Marine Corps cadet Zurisaddai Ricardo, 15, of Nation Ford High School, S.C., with Doyle firing a 9.7 to Ricardo’s 8.0. In addition, Elyssa Vazquez, 16, of Mariner High School, claimed third in the class.
The win was a first for Doyle at the national event, who drastically improved her performance after finishing outside of the top 50 in 2022 and 2023. With her win, Doyle received a new Crosman air rifle.
Also landing a first-time win was the Army’s Mariner High School of Florida, whose members compiled a score of 4408-135X for the overall win in the sporter class team competition. Members were Nathan Krokstrom, Elyssa Vazquez, Tyler Dennard and Eryka Vazquez. Similar to Doyle, the team received a new Crosman air rifle, donated by Crosman.
“To achieve any high-level accomplishment requires an inordinate amount of time, commitment and consistency,” Maj. Bryan Williams, who coaches the team alongside his wife, Marybeth, said. “These superstar cadets have absolutely done just that.”
As a bonus, this year’s JROTC event included a fun elimination challenge on CMP’s new Laser Shot simulators. Winning the inaugural match was Joshua Romero of Pueblo County High School Army JROTC from Colorado. Maximus Wilcox, also of Pueblo County, found second, as Alex Johnson of the Utah Military Academy Air Force JROTC ended in third.
At the conclusion of the match, the 220 participants, their coaches and families attended a celebratory banquet and awards ceremony at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in nearby Sandusky, Ohio. Those in attendance were able to let loose from their months of hard work through dinner, a photo booth, lightshows and music—including a massive group dance of the Macarena.
The crowd also welcomed guest speaker, Brig. Gen. Michael Lalor of the U.S. Army TACOM. During his speech, Lalor encouraged the young cadets to keep working hard toward their goals, just as they did during competition. As a commander of a unit in Detroit, Mich., not far from where rapper Eminem got his start, Lalor channeled one of performer’s most popular songs to relay an important message to those in attendance.
“You’re going to have some once-in-a-lifetime moments that you’re going to have to take advantage of … How you trained and how you competed is indicative of how you’re going to seize those moments,” he said. “Not only is that going to be important for your future, but it’s going to be important for our country, and it’s going to be important, eventually, for the world.”
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