JROTC rifle team places 2nd nationally

The Webb City JROTC rifle team members were excited a few weeks ago to qualify for the national championships. Now they’ve brought home the second-place trophy.

Lt. Col. Dustin Elder notes that the team competed over five days at Camp Perry in northern Ohio against the 27 highest ranked teams in the nation, with seven representing each of four service branches – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

He further pointed out that those 28 teams represented the more than 3,000 JROTC programs throughout the country.

Team members were Preston Burton, Johnathon Tatum, Katelyn Miller, Blake Wininger and Aleena Arias.

“This is only our second year making it to this level of competition, and the cadets reacted with poise and focus,” says Elder.

In addition to receiving the trophy and medals, team members brought home a $1,500 check for the program.

In another first for Cardinal Battalion, two of the four team members Burton and Tatum cadets were awarded the Gold Junior Distinguished Marksmanship Badge by the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The badge is awarded to school-age air rifle shooters who distinguish themselves by attaining a series of high rankings in designated major junior air rifle championships that include State Junior Olympic Qualifiers, CMP Cup Matches, the National Junior Olympic Championships and other National Council Three-Position Air Rifle Championships. 

“Bottom line is they have to shoot really well over a long period of time (three to four years) in order to get enough points to qualify,” says Elder. “These badges are numbered and only about 1,700 have been given… ever.”