Sunday, May 5, 2024
Rifle team members of the Granbury Marine Corps JROTC took top honors as the National Champions at the JROTC All Service Air Rifle Championships held at the Civilian Marksmanship Program Competition Center- North in Camp Perry, Ohio on March 17-19.
High school cadets from Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps) met on the firing line this weekend to complete a journey that has been months in the making.
In October, more than 6,000 junior shooters participated in the 2021 Civilian Marksmanship Program Postal Competition, with the highest-scoring shooters in each branch qualifying for the JROTC National Service Championships last month. The top teams from each service then converged on Camp Perry to see who would claim the national title.
Parker Haydin, Tye Foster, Ashton Arlington, Sarah Folsom, Julia Czernik, Sunnee Schumann, Caroline Martin, Cadince McGrath, Kaylynn Slaughter, Kameron Wells and Kennedy Wells represented Granbury High School in the 3×20 air rifle event, featuring competitors firing 20 record shots from three positions (prone, standing, and kneeling) over the two-day contest.
The GHS top squad of Haydin, Folsom, Arlington, and Schumann shot 4716 out of a possible 4800 points to claim the national title – 51 points ahead of Sarasota Military Academy, Florida. Additionally, Haydin led the team and shot a personal best of 1186 out of a possible 1200 points making finals and topping all final scores placing him first and winning the gold medal as an individual. In addition, Folsom, Schumann, Arlington, and Martin made finals that put them in 4th through 7th place overall, respectively.
Granbury's second team of Czernik, Martin, Slaughter, and Kameron Wells placed 4th overall in the national match.
"I liked the way everyone battled through the match for every point to claim the championship."Lt. Col. Scott Casey, the Senior Marine Instructor and rifle team head coach, said. "What is just as impressive is our second team placing 4th overall and the scores shot by the two youngest shooters on the squad, Kameron Wells and Julia Czernik. They are the future of the team, and I can't wait to see what they will do next year. Hands down, this is one of the most talented groups of kids in my 10 years of coaching - I knew we had a great group from top to bottom at the beginning of the year – and they proved that this weekend."
"All team members have worked hard all season," John Becker, assistant coach, and Texas State CMP Director, said. "I firmly believe they won the match before arriving by putting in the work necessary all season before school and after school practices starting way back in August."
During the awards ceremony, Martin received her Distinguished Marksmanship Badges, which is the equivalent to the High School All American for marksmanship.
The badge is awarded to school-age junior three-position air rifle shooters who distinguish themselves by attaining a series of high rankings in designated major junior air rifle championships.
Granbury Rifle's next competition is 24-26 March as GHS will host the Pirate 3P Air Rifle EIC Cup Match at the Granbury Marksmanship Center at GHS.
