April 22, 2022 – The Caprock High School JROTC team won first place in the Marine Corps JROTC National Championships held recently in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Caprock team competed in six events against 10 other national qualifying high school teams from across the nation. Caprock won 1st place in two events, 2nd place in two other events, and rounded out the competition with a 5th place and 7th place finish in two more events.
Finishing in second place the past three years at the National Competition, Master Gunnery Sergeant Michael Harris, USMC, said the mentality of the team members going into this year’s competition developed a change throughout the course of the year that led to Caprock’s championship victory.
“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t doing as well as we were accustomed to doing, but as the year progressed you could see them changing their mental attitude towards practices,” Harris said. “There was a significant gap in competition points early in the year, but in the competition just prior to nationals, the gap was very small. They knew what needed to be done, and they knew the championship was within reach.”
Master Sergeant Jonathan Scott, USMC, said the victory was especially meaningful for the returning JROTC team members who had finished in second place in previous years’ competition.
“Oh for sure, they were very happy,” Scott said. “I think they were more relieved than anything because they knew how much work they had put into the team over the past few years, and all of that hard work paid off to finally win the championship.”
The mission of Amarillo ISD is to graduate every student prepared for life and success beyond high school. Master Gunnery Sergeant Harris spoke about the personal development and growth aspects that a JROTC student carries into life after high school.
“I think they learn a lot about life by being a part of this unit,” Harris said. “They learn commitment. They learn a lot of responsibility. We expect a lot from our cadets, and that they give us their best at all times. There are no excuses and we expect them to bring their A-game no matter what it is.”
At the National Championships competition, the team finished with the following results:
1st Place - Armed Exhibition
1st Place - Unarmed Exhibition
2nd Place - Inspection
2nd Place - Unarmed Regulation
5th Place - Color Guard
7th Place - Armed Regulation
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