For the second year in a row, Nease High School’s NJROTC program finished as the 6th best drill team in the nation at the Navy National Drill Championships.
Held March 31 and April 1 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Nease competed against the top 25 schools in the United States.
The Nease JROTC program is currently the reigning Most Outstanding Unit in the nation among the 579 Navy JROTC programs. Drill is one of several components that factor into the recognition as the #1 national program. Athletics, academics, school support and community service are other key elements that play a role in the calculation. Nease won its two Jacksonville area drill meets and the Area 12 (Northern Florida and state of Georgia) drill meet to earn a spot in the national championships.
Of the nine competition events at the national championships, Nease received four team and three individual awards. In Personnel Inspection – the most heavily scored and weighted event of the competition – Nease took 3rd place. Other top finishes included Unarmed Exhibition (3rd place), Academics (5th place) and Sit Ups (5th place).
Individual top finishers in sit ups were Lilly Short (3rd), Erin Sass (5th) and Cali Vaughn (9th), who completed 284, 281 and 210 sit ups respectively.
“We prepared, trained and readied ourselves as best we could,” said cadet Teams Coordinator Isabelle Jacobi. “I’m proud how every cadet gave everything they had.”
Shawnee Mission North High School from Overland Park, Kansas won the overall first place award.
Nease will next be competing for the Most Outstanding Unit in Area 12 – a title it has been awarded for four consecutive years.
