The Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp (NJROTC) competed in the national competition at Pensacola, FL, April. 3-8.
“I had a ton of fun on the trip and getting to [be involved in] a new type of competition was such a special experience,” junior Eden Hillel said.
The competition consisted of multiple events including personnel inspection and five separate drill events; color guard, unarmed and armed basic drill and unarmed and armed exhibition. NJROTC also competed in an academics test and three physical training events; push ups, curl ups and sprints.
“It was definitely very stressful especially when it came to the personnel inspection,” sophomore Rhiya Ramanan said. “Despite the nerves, we were all very excited to compete in our first ever nationals.”
This competition marked the first time the school’s NJROTC qualified and went to a national meet. Even though this was their premiere in a country wide competition, they did very well, with some of the members placing very high in their categories.
“It was an extremely long day because there were 23 other schools there and everyone had to get everything done, but we got lucky with our schedule of events.” Hillel said.
The school’s NJROTC excelled overall, especially in the push-up competition with freshman Adrian Pham doing 127 to place third, and sophomore Lucius Kim doing 111 to place fifth.
“I learned about the capabilities of the other schools, and we also retained what we need to do next year to win first,” sophomore Viyana Merzai said.
The team ranked in the top 10 of the school NJROTC programs nationwide. They practiced for hours on a day-to-day basis to prepare, their commitment to the team contributed to their nationwide success.
“I felt really confident throughout the day but everyone around us was stressed as we were all trying to manage each other and help one another get through our events smoothly,” Hillel said. “I was nervous and excited to compete and represent all the west coast.”