Information from Wasatch High School
On Saturday March 5th, the Wasatch Air Force JROTC drill team competed in all-service JROTC Utah State Championship. This year, 12 schools from Utah and Idaho competed, representing Air Force, Army and Navy JROTC units. Wasatch has been practicing for months leading up to the competition season and had an outstanding performance even with a smaller than normal team. JROTC Drill involves marching, spinning and tossing an 8.5 pound rifle. This year, the drill team is commanded by junior Tyson Averett who leads fellow cadets Tyler Baird, Jacob Jenkins, Ethan Deeds, Sammie Dahl, Waylon Giese and Alex Ranniger. The team took 2nd place in Armed Drill exhibition. They also earned 2nd place in Armed Drill inspection with the addition of Meg Harris, Preston Barker, and Zach Averett. For inspection, active and guard military members look over the cadets’ uniforms and ask them specific knowledge questions. Cadets also competed in Special Exhibition, which is solo, duo and four-person teams spinning rifles. Wasatch did a fantastic job and impressed all the judges with their difficulty. In the solo category: Ethan placed 3rd, Jacob placed 5th and Tyson took 6th. In the 2- 4 person category, the Wasatch 4-man team of Jacob, Tyler, Alex and Tyson placed 2ne overall; the duo team of Jacob/ Tyson and Waylon/ Preston tied for 3rd; and the duo team of Ethan/ Sammie took 5th. Tyson Averett placed 2nd among all the cadet commanders based on his performance on the drill pad. The Color Guard teams competed in their own category as well and did extremely well. The team commanded by Meg Harris, with Zach, Sammie, and Ethan, placed 2nd (out of 20 teams). Wasatch’s second team (commanded by Waylon Giese, with Preston, Dustin Nielsen and Graham Bocanegra) would have placed 3rd with their score (9 points behind Team A), but only one team from each school was allowed to be on the podium. This was the biggest JROTC drill meet since Covid cancelled the season in March 2020. Congratulations Wasatch cadets on a fantastic season! Armed Drill is just one of the many competitive teams and clubs open to all cadets in the Wasatch AFJROTC program. Any high school student that lives in Wasatch County can join the program and there is NO military obligation. The mission of JROTC is to build citizens of character and help students develop their leadership skills for the future. For more information, please contact denise.harris@wasatch.edu.
