JROTC Rifle team places 3rd nationally

LTC+Gary+Crafton%2C+Melissa+Espinoza%2C+Lorenzo+Rivera%2C+Ryan+Gonzalez%2C+Jaime+Escobar+and+Melissa+Brown-Dinkins.

courtesy JROTC

LTC Gary Crafton, Melissa Espinoza, Lorenzo Rivera, Ryan Gonzalez, Jaime Escobar and Melissa Brown-Dinkins.

Priscilla Erickson, Head photographer

The school’s Precision Rifle Team placed 3rd in Army JROTC and 10th overall in JROTC rifle teams from all four of the services at the 2016 Air Rifle National Championship in Anniston, AL. From the initial state and area qualifier last December over 7,000 competitors and hundreds of teams competed for the regional service championship last February where the top approximate 15 percent then competed at one of the three U.S. Regional qualifiers. From all three regionals only 17 teams and 83 individuals from all four service JROTC programs advanced to the national JROTC Air Rifle Championship  March 17-19, at the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) indoor range in Anniston. This marks the 9th consecutive year that the school’s Precision Rifle Team qualified for and competed in the national championship.