The Webb City JROTC rifle team has returned from Camp Perry, Ohio, with regional and national Army team championships and an individual championship.
The sporter team, of Katelyn Miller, Johnathon Tatum, Aleena Arias, Lilly Othick and Avery Pennock, won the regional and national Army national championships.
Four of the eight finalists for the regional individual championship were from Webb City: Miller, Tatum, Othick and Arias.
Lt. Col. Dustin Elder announced that “Katelyn Miller is officially the No. 1 Army JROTC shooter in the Nation!” Tatum was No. 4 and Arias was No. 6. He emphasized that “Webb City has three of the top 10 best shooters in Army JROTC nationwide!”
This was the first year of competition in this precision team category. Elder said “it was amazing that these kids even made it to the national championship. Not only did they make it but they made their presence felt!”
Members of the precision team, Abigail Riggs, Amy Klor, Brooke McAllister, Anthony Kulju and Sophia Spencer-Asbell, won third place in the region and ninth place nationally.
Riggs was one of the eight individual finalists during regionals and received a medal. Her score was also good enough for her to be ranked fifth in the nation for Army JROTC in the precision category.
Webb City’s sporter team, along with the other top-seven Army sporter teams, will return to Camp Perry over spring break to compete against the top seven teams representing the Marine, Air Force, and Navy JROTC programs.
Abigail Riggs’ high individual score qualifies her to compete as one of five “at large” shooters in the country during the all-service championships.
To put the rifle team’s accomplishments in perspective, Elder points out there are 1,700 Army JROTC programs in the United States.
The Cardinal Battalion is busy this week hosting the Missouri state rifle competition at the firing range in the high school.
Hundreds of cadets representing multiple school districts are slated to compete. The tournament will run from Thursday through Sunday.
The Webb City Sentinel isn’t a newspaper – but it used to be, serving Webb City, Missouri, in print from 1879-2020. This “newspaper” seeks to carry on that tradition as a nonprofit corporation.
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