BG, Prairie excel at AFJROTC national competition

Posted

The Battle Ground High School Tigers and Prairie High School Falcons did well at the AFJROTC 2015 Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma on March 14, an event that included about 30 JROTC units.

The Battle Ground High School Tigers completed the season undefeated 25-0, winning the school’s first conference championship in any JROTC sport in school history. The Unarmed Drill Team placed second with the Unarmed Drill Team Commander, Junior Sydney Bodin, winning the silver medal.

Prairie placed fifth overall at the championships. Prairie’s Armed Drill Team, commanded by first place champion Taylor Harper, earned first place honors and was named Conference Champions. The PHS Precision Air Rifle Team won second place, and the Color Guard Team came in sixth place.

Both schools also did well in individual competitions. Among the Falcons, Unarmed Individual Regulation Drill members Justin Cyr earned third place and Alex Hampton took sixth. Armed Individual Regulation Drill teammates Taylor Harper and Andrew Friason both won fifth place.



Andrew Friason achieved second place in the Armed Singles Regulation and Exhibition Drill and Armed Duals Regulation and Exhibition Drill members Ken Wilson and John-Morgan Smithline both earned second place as well. Melaine Scialabba and Lauren Couch both earned third place in the Unarmed Duals Exhibition Drill and Individual Precision Air Rifle member Connor Moore came in fourth place.

Tiger individual freshman Casper Schadler won gold and Junior Lindsay Owens earned the fifth place medal. Sporter Shooter Tymothy Keire placed tenth overall in his second match of the season, outshooting 40 shooters. Junior Nolan Alvarino, who won the silver medal, shot his highest overall total of the season, scoring 99/100 on his first kneeling target. The Tigers took three of the six medals awarded in Precision.

The Tiger JROTC program recently received another honor as well – on March 5, the unit was evaluated by JROTC Headquarters and accomplished the highest rating possible of “Exceeds Standards.” This evaluation of the unit’s instructor teaching methods, uniform storage inventory, fiscal responsibility, physical fitness and community service programs among various other categories, is performed once every three years and is very thorough. If a unit achieves a rating of “Exceeds Standards,” then they are eligible to be considered for the “Distinguished Unit with Merit” Award in mid to late April, which is the highest award given to the most outstanding JROTC units.