February 21, 2018
Members of the Granbury Marine Corps JROTC excelled at the U.S. Marine Corps Service Championship held February 16-18, 2018, in Aniston, Alabama.
Granbury High School was represented by Trinity Hathaway, Clarissa Layland, Brittney Pinckard, Elizabeth Plecity, Angel Mosco, Jakob Rankin, M'Leah Lambdin, Kelcy McGrath, Makenzie Sheffield, and Allison Henry. The event was a 3×20 air rifle event, meaning competitors fire 20 record shots from three positions: prone, standing and kneeling over the two day period in Anniston.
The squad of Hathaway, Sheffield, McGrath and Lambdin won the National Championship by one point. In addition, a second Granbury team of Pinckard, Plecity, Layland and Henry placed fourth among all the Marine teams and qualified to compete at the all-service national competition on March 22-24 at Camp Perry, Ohio.
Additionally, McGrath and Sheffield led the team and advanced to finals featuring the top eight shooters. During a very exciting finals, McGrath finished second overall with Sheffield placing fourth.
“We are very proud of this team and their accomplishments,” commentded Lt. Col. Scott Casey, the Senior Marine Instructor and rifle team coach. “Our kids are the best team in the Marine Corps, and that is an amazing achievement.”
High school cadets from Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) meet on the firing line to complete a journey that has been months in the making. Over 9,000 junior shooters participated in the 2017 Civilian Marksmanship Program Postal Competition in October with the highest-scoring shooters in each branch qualifying for the JROTC National Service Championships this month.
“I am impressed with our freshman team members, Mosco and Lambdin,” Casey said. “Lambdin finished in 16th and Mosco in 25th place. That is exceptional and is a true testament on how well they performed under the pressure at a national match.”
During the awards ceremony Sheffield, Hathaway and Layland received Distinguished Marksmanship badges, which is awarded to school-age junior three-position air rifle shooters who distinguish themselves by attaining a series of high rankings in designated major junior air rifle championships that include State Junior Olympic Qualifiers, CMP Cup Matches, the National Junior Olympic Championships and other National Council Three-Position Air Rifle Championships. This is equivalent to the High School All-American for marksmanship.
The GHS rifle team next hosts the Air Rifle Junior Olympics on February 23-24.
Pictured are (left to right) Trinity Hathaway, M’Leah Lambdin, Kelcy McGrath, and Makenzie Sheffield. In back is Lt. Col. Casey.
