Kokomo Standard

Marion JROTC drill team dominates first competition

In their first competition of the season, the Marion High School JROTC drill team demonstrated why they are a force to reckon with. In a regional contest hosted by Kenton High School in Ohio, the Giants swept the competition. And it was a powerful sweep that claimed the overall victory and multiple first-place finishes.

Under the watchful eyes of multiple graders, the drill team competed in a series of events all designed to test the discipline, synchronization, and poise of each cadet as they worked as a team performing various drill commands and movements.

The Giants started the competition strong in the armed (with drill rifle) squad regulation drill category, led by senior Nakiya Bibbs. With a team composed of mostly upperclassmen with several years of drill experience, they easily pulled in the first place finish.

“We were on it,” Bibbs said of her team’s performance. “Everyone was focused and ready to execute the various commands.”

Continuing on, the Giants competed in both the platoon armed category and platoon unarmed category, led by senior Evan Ray and junior Jocelyn Lopez-Gomez respectively. Both cadets, well-versed in drill, led their teams to first place finishes.

And then in the advanced color guard category, senior Stephany Miksch led her team to a first place finish.

While the Giants had several experienced veterans on the team, they also had many first year cadets who competed in categories designed just for them.

Cadet Justin Peters, a freshman, led his team to an easy victory in the first-year unarmed squad regulation drill category to finish the overall sweep for the Giants.

“It was really fun to compete,” Peters said. “It was very nerve-wracking, but it was very cool.”

The Marion team also fielded a first-year cadet team in the first-year color guard category. The team, led by freshman Adelia Santiago-Stricler, finished in an impressive third place.

As a result of the multiple first place finishes, the Giants easily and decisively took the overall first place finish for the competition.

“The strength of our performance with both our more experienced cadets and the first-year cadets speaks to the strength of this team,” said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jon Smith, the drill team coach. “They continue to improve from year to year. It looks like this could be a very exciting season for our team.”

The final events of the drill competition were the individual armed and unarmed knock-out competitions. In this pressure-cooker event, hundreds of cadets take to the drill floor to execute the commands that are given. Nearly a dozen graders watch for the slightest imperfection in the movement of the cadets. Any infraction results in a tap on the shoulder and that cadet is knocked-out (removed) from the competition. Through the attrition, the cadets competing are eliminated down to the top 10 finishers, and then in sequence down to only one remaining.

In the armed knock-out category, when only 10 cadets remained, there were four Marion cadets standing tall. And MHS senior Evan Ray pulled in the first place finish.

Then once again, the hundreds of cadets took to the floor for the unarmed knock-out. And when there were only 10 left standing, an amazing five were from Marion. Once again, Evan Ray pulled in the first place finish.

“I can’t even begin to describe how stressful it was to have all of those graders staring at me, watching for even the slightest mistake,” Ray said. “I just tried to remain calm and execute the commands that were given.”

The Marion team will travel on Jan. 7 to compete in another regional competition in Springfield, Ohio.

Original source can be found here.