JROTC Nationals 2023
256 of the top High School Precision Rifle Marksmen in the US met in Camp Perry, Ohio, in July for the Junior Olympic National Rifle Championships. WaHi’s JROTC Precision Rifle Team competed against 52 other precision teams during the 2-day match.
The team, comprised of Cadet Captain Raquelle Justice, Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Kaden Kerr, Cadet Captain Micah Vawter, and Cadet Captain Aviella Wilson qualified for this match through a 6-month process that had them shooting qualifying matches at the local and regional level in order to gain an invite to the final contest this summer. For Justice and Kerr, this match marked the end of their high school shooting careers and for Vawter, it signaled his transition from team member to team captain for the 2023-24 season.
“We have been training hard for this match.” Said WaHi Rifle Coach Mark Mebes. “Micah and Aviella had just returned from a week-long training camp in Wyoming where we did a lot of positional work in preparation.”
Preliminary qualifications for this match began last November, when the team traveled to Spokane for the Washington State Junior Olympics 3 Position Match. From there, they advanced to the CMP Western Regional Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. WaHi’s score at the match in Utah advanced the team to the National Championship in Ohio. There they joined over 250 of the top ranked shooters in the United States, vying for trophies and honors.
Shooters competed in a course of fire that included 20 shots each from the prone, standing and kneeling positions. Each shot is worth a possible 10 points for a total match score of 600 points per shooter. As the WaHi team finished their relay on the first day, they had accumulated a total of 2243 points out of 2400, putting them 11th place in the high school team category and 40th place overall. Team scoring was led by Justice, who posted a 576 out of 600, followed by Wilson with a 559.
On the second day of the competition, Justice again led scoring for the Blue Devils, bettering her performance the previous day by a point, turning in a 577. She was followed by team captain Vawter, shooting a career-high 574. The Blue Devil marksmen surpassed their previous day’s scoring, turning in a 2255 on the second day and moving up one place to 10th in the high school teams category.
The team returned to Walla Walla to reconfigure and take a one-month break before beginning the 23-24 season under Vawter’s captaincy. The Blue Devil Battalion opened their season by hosting the US Army Junior Air Championships at Walla Walla High School in late October.
