Giants are runner-up Raider national champions

By Press release submission

Nov 12, 2022

The Marion High School JROTC Raider Team did the unexpected while competing in the All-Army Raider National Championship last week: They defeated numerous much larger JROTC programs and private military academies to earn the runner-up national champion title. And senior Nakiya Bibbs also earned an individual accolade of her own: a third-place individual finish among all the female cadets in the Ultimate Raider Competition.

The championship, held over four days in Georgia, featured the best teams from across the country. More than 150 teams competed in different categories and team configurations. The Giants’ co-ed team was assigned to compete in the Masters Division, the toughest category at the competition.

“The Masters Division is reserved for only the best teams,” said Raider team coach, retired Lt. Col. David Farlow. “Your previous performance at the Nationals dictated into which level you would compete. Because of our prior performance we were placed in the highest division.”

The Giants have consistently placed in the top 10 ranking against all other teams, with a couple placements as high as fourth place overall.

“In previous years we were never able to break into the top three against those massive private military academies and huge JROTC programs, even though we had won the small school championship many times before,” Farlow said. “But different this year was the discontinuance of recognizing the top small-school champion. So we had to just go head to head against those Goliaths.”

The first event for the Giants was the gauntlet, a 1-mile run through the woods with multiple obstacles while carrying 35-pound backpacks and two 50-pound ammo crates. The Giants turned in a superb time of 5:08, a 16% improvement over last year’s time of 6:06.

“We started off so strong,” MHS senior Josh Pina said. “It was amazing.”

The confidence of the Giants began to build following the gauntlet as they headed for the next event, the physical team test (PTT).

The PTT is a ½-mile sprint in which the cadets have to synchronize the movement of heavy objects, leap over walls and just all-out run. The Giants won first place on this event last year with a time of 3:45. When they crossed the finish line, they had bested their previous time by 17% with an impressive 3:06.

“By this time we were really starting to realize how well we were doing,” MHS junior Steven Fuller said. “We had just smoked the first events.”

But three major events remained.

The Giants lined up for the most physically demanding of all the events, the 5-kilometer mountain run. They would have to run straight up a mountain to the top, turn around and then sprint back down. The Giants knew the course well as they had also won that event last year with a time of 25:24. As the totally exhausted cadets crossed the finish line this year, the time was 22:47, 10% faster than the previous years’ time.

“I had been saying all season that this was the best team that I had ever coached,” Farlow said. “At this point, I was amazed at how much we had improved over last year.”

After a short break, the Giants moved to their nemesis event: the one-rope bridge, where they had to rapidly construct a single line bridge over a river spanning 85 feet. The banks of the river were full of roots and rocks that could snag the rope. In their previous seven visits to Nationals, the Marion squad had never had a solid run on this event.

With only a slight bit of difficulty with a rope snag at the end, the Giants finished with a time of 2:41.87.

“That was a very solid time for us,” Farlow said. “It was a competitive time. And we were all thrilled that it was not fraught with the difficulties encountered in previous years.”

Last year the Giants turned in a very mediocre time of 4:08 due to difficulties and a penalty. This year’s score was a 35% improvement.

“I have to admit that we were feeling very confident with how we were doing as we headed to the final event,” said team commander Haden Montgomery, an MHS senior. “The litter carry/cross country rescue is always a strong event for us.”

At Nationals last year, the Giants placed first on the litter carry with a time of 9:50. But this year, with it being their last event of the day, the question on everyone’s mind was: Would fatigue be a factor?

The intelligence on other teams’ performance throughout the day indicated the Giants would need a time of nine minutes or less to hope to win the event.

“I knew it was now or never for us,” said MHS senior Stephany Miksch, who had competed at Nationals twice before. “It was very stressful. We knew that we had to crush this event.”

The litter carry/cross country rescue is a 1-mile run through the woods while carrying 35-pound backpacks and a simulated casualty on a litter that weighs 125 pounds. In addition to the distance and weight, the cadets had to scale a 9-foot wall, run through a mud pit 60 feet long by 3 feet deep, and at the end of the course crawl on their bellies while dragging all the equipment 60 feet to the finish line.

“They exploded from the start and were over the wall in seconds,” Farlow said. “But when they hit the mud pit I knew there was going to be a problem.”

The Giants were one of the last teams to run the course. Water from the mud pit had turned the trail into a quagmire of slippery goo.

“I watched as they struggled to gain their footing under the weight of the backpacks and litter, and my heart sank,” Farlow said. “I just didn’t think they could turn on the speed that they would need to win this event.”

As Farlow waited at the finish line for his team, reports via walkie-talkie came in that they were at the halfway point.

“I looked at my stopwatch and it was at the seven-minute mark,” Farlow said. “I resigned myself that this event was just not going to be good for us.”

But the crowd started to yell: “Go Giants!”

As Farlow looked at his stopwatch once again, just short of eight minutes had gone by as his cadets rounded the final turn and came into view just short of the low crawl portion of the event. Obviously, the walkie-talkie report had to be very wrong.

“I knew if they could get through the low crawl in one minute, we had a real shot at winning the event,” Farlow said.

The crowd was yelling for the Giants as they struggled through the last obstacle. Screams, grunts, cries of “Go!” and “Push!” and “Move!” were heard.

Anthony O’Neal was at the very end of his squad, clawing, struggling, trying to gain that last bit of momentum to reach the finish line.

“I heard the colonel [Farlow] yelling the seconds remaining,” he said. “I just gave it all I had and dove across the finish line.”

And that was enough. The Giants finished with a blistering speed of 8:54 in spite of it being the last event of their grueling day. It was a time 10% faster than the year prior.

And then the Giants had to wait for the results the following day.

Prior to the awards ceremony, each school selects their best male and female cadets to compete in the Ultimate Raider Competition. It is a 1.75-mile run while wearing 35-pound backpacks. Just prior to the finish line, the Raiders have to drag their backpacks through the same 60-foot long low crawl from the litter carry event, and then, when totally exhausted, scale the 9-foot wall. Senior Nakiya Bibbs and sophomore Anthony O’Neil were tapped to represent the Giants.

Both Bibbs and O’Neil finished higher in the placement than any prior Marion cadet. Bibbs finished as the #3 best female Raider in the nation. O’Neil finished a respectable 12th in the nation.

Nearly a thousand cadets representing teams from across the country gathered for the awards ceremony, each hoping they had done what it takes to be at the top. The Marion squad was no different.

As the announcer called off team placements, the Giants were doing well. First place in the PTT, first place in the litter carry/cross country rescue, second place in the gauntlet, fourth place in the 5K run. With one remaining event to be announced, the Giants were tied in the overall standing for first place with the Sarasota Military Academy.

And that is when the disappointment came.

The Giants placed third in the rope bridge while Sarasota finished second. The difference in their times: a mere .06 seconds. That amount of time, Farlow noted, is faster than a person can even start and stop a stopwatch.

“It is like the blink of an eye that separated us from total victory,” Farlow said. “But every second, or in this case every 100th of a second, matters.”

Regardless, the Giants had done what they had never done before: They placed second against every Raider team in the nation.

“We did the best that we could do,” Montgomery said. “I am very proud of them.”

Teammate and fellow MHS senior Stephany Miksch added: “I could not have asked for a better team. We worked so well together. They are my family.”

The Giant’s improvement over last year’s performance was astounding, and the runner-up title is remarkable.

“These cadets were amazing,” Farlow said. “They did their best, and it was impressive. As a coach, I can’t ask for anything more.”

But those on the team who will not graduate have a new number burned into their innermost being: .06.

And as is the Raider fashion, they look to next year and the improvements that will need to be made. And they will remember .06.

This trip would not have been possible, and these cadets would not have had the opportunity to excel, if it had not been for the generous donations we received to help defray the cost of the trip. On behalf of this extraordinary team, the Marion High School JROTC thanks all who supported them.

The Raider team competing at Nationals this year included:

Seniors - Haden Montgomery, Josh Pina, Evan Ray, Nakiya Bibbs, and Stephany Miksch
Juniors - Hayleigh Kirkwood, Damarie Weaver, Steven Fuller, Mariah Cochran, and manager Jerrica Cheung
Sophomores - Kylar Pettus, Kryuna Shumock, Anthony O’Neil
Freshman -Alana Montgomery