Mariner Tritons JROTC Leadership Team’s air rifle team takes home a top-10 finish in national competition
The Mariner Tritons JROTC Leadership Team’s air rifle team showed they belong on the big stage recently, taking home a top-10 finish in national competition.
The group of six cadets representing the 18-person component went into both the Junior Olympics and Civilian Marksmanship Program Youth National Championship at Camp Perry in Ohio ranked No. 26 out of 27 teams. They finished 12th in the Junior Olympics and ninth in the 3-position Youth National Championships.
“We’re incredibly proud of the kids — not just for their finish, but we’re really proud of their self-improvements,” said Mariner JROTC Department Head and Senior Army Instructor Bryan Williams. “Just two months prior in our first out-of-state competition, there were some struggles mentally, emotionally — learning how to cope with that level of competition. So we spent two months preparing for, of course, shooting and competing, but we were really focusing on their character and mental preparation. And that’s where they really made some gains and that’s what led to a higher finish.”
Williams added that the foundation of JROTC is to motivate young people to be better citizens, and that lessons learned inside a competitive arena apply to life after sport and create better individuals in the community.
“While they learn the skill of shooting, learning how to concentrate or focus in a stressful situation; learning how to cope with maybe a poor result and have resilience to come back from that; learning what excellence looks like and the commitment that is required; those are skill that transferred to life after high school,” Williams said.
Students on the team included: Cadet/Lieutenant Colonel Elena Cardenas-Cruz (11th grade), Cadet/Sergeant First Class Nathan Krokstrom (Florida State Sporter Class champion; 10th grade), Cadet/Sergeant First Class Eryka Vazquez (ranked second in Lee County, ninth in Florida; 10th grade), Cadet/Sergeant First Class Trent Olsen (10th grade), Cadet/Corporal Tyler Dennard (ninth grade), and Cadet/Lieutenant Colonel Kahla Berry (11th grade).
The national championships, which took place from June 23 to 25, featured competitors from any and all youth shooting programs across the country.
Williams works along his wife and volunteer coach, Marybeth, who he gives immense credit to when it comes to preparing his cadets. The pair are veterans and met while serving in the Army. The remarkable aspect of Marybeth’s work is the fact she’s only been with the students for nine months, while other teams competed with coaches of 10 to 15 years.
“She’s the game changer,” Williams said. “She’s put in probably four to five hundred hours this year as a volunteer coach — a lot of those hours being spent late at night seeking mentoring from other national coaches, and studying training drills to hone her craft. She came in this season and we went from being a top three team in the district to top three team in the state and top 10 nationally.”
The cadets were scored in a team format, based on shooting 20 shots in three positions: prone, standing, and kneeling.
Each morning on their trip started early with physical fitness, stretching, yoga and mental preparation. Cadets would arrive one hour prior to the competition to finalize equipment checks and get into the “zone.” Williams said cadets were taught to focus, concentrate, and think positive thoughts.
The competition was held in the Gary Anderson Competition Facility, a state-of-the-art electronic range that Mariner hopes to replicate at a smaller scale in the near future. Athletes receive immediate feedback on their monitors and spectators view results real-time on large screens.
The Triton Cadets also had the privilege of spending 30 private minutes with two-time Olympic gold medalist Dr. Gary Anderson (for whom the competition facility is named) and another 30-minute mentoring session with the No.1 youth athlete shooter in the USA. Additionally, Triton athletes were provided a private tour of the competition facility and electronic shooting equipment. They were able to round out the trip with some historic sightseeing and some fun.
Williams said he has goals and plans for the team moving forward. He hopes to expand out-of-state and national opportunities and for the program to garner scholarship opportunities for their cadets.
“We want this to lead to college scholarships for our kids,” Williams said. “There are over 50 Division I and II universities that have air rifle teams, and all of them offer full-ride scholarships for shooting.”
Williams added that the most prolific enabler (along with coach Marybeth) that propelled the team to competitions of national stature is the support from Mariner principal Dr. Thomas Michael and partners in the community.
“(Dr. Michael) is the ultimate champion for the Mariner JROTC program,” Williams said. “He supports our initiatives and spends time with us.
“Through (the national competition process) we have acquired numerous community partners that extend way beyond financial support. They’re also partners in a sense that our kids are plugging into their organizations. Our kids are learning to become better citizens and going out into the community to volunteer.”
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