March 23, 2022
Granbury Marine Corps JROTC rifle team members took top honors as five-time national champions at the JROTC All Service Air Rifle Championships sponsored through the Civilian Marksmanship Program on March 17-19, 2022, at Camp Perry, Ohio.
Granbury High School teams competed in the 3×20 air rifle event, featuring competitors firing twenty record shots from each of three positions (prone, standing, and kneeling) twice over the two-day contest, which includes Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force JROTC teams.
GHS rifle team members competing were Ashton Arlington, Julia Czernik, Sarah Folsom, Tye Foster, Parker Haydin, Caroline Martin, Cadince McGrath, Sunnee Schumann, Kaylynn Slaughter, Kameron Wells, and Kennedy Wells.
The GHS top squad of Arlington, Folsom, Haydin, and Schumann shot a 4716 out of a possible 4800 points to claim the national title – 51 points ahead of Sarasota Military Academy, Florida. Additionally, Haydin led the team and shot a personal best of 1186 out of a possible 1200 points making finals and topping all final scores to place him first with a gold medal individually.
Granbury’s second team of Czernik, Martin, Slaughter and Kameron Wells placed fourth overall in the national match.
In addition, Folsom, Schumann, Arlington, and Martin made finals that placed them in fourth through seventh place overall respectively.
"I liked the way everyone battled through the match for every point to claim the championship,” commented Lt. Col. Scott Casey, the Senior Marine Instructor and rifle team head coach. “What is just as impressive is our second team placing fourth overall, and the scores shot by the two youngest shooters on the squad, Kameron Wells and Julia Czernik. They are the future of the team, and I can’t wait to see what they will do next year. Hands down this is one of the most talented group of kids in my ten years of coaching. I knew we had a great group from top to bottom at the beginning of the year – and they proved that this weekend.”
“All members of the team have worked hard all season” commented John Becker, assistant coach and Texas State CMP Director. “I firmly believe they won the match before arriving by putting in the work necessary all season during before school and after school practices starting way back in August.”
During the awards ceremony, Martin received her Distinguished Marksmanship Badges. The Junior Distinguished Badge 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 team's next competition is March 24-26 as Granbury will host the Pirate 3P Air Rifle EIC Cup Match at GHS.
Pictured are (left to right): back – Lt. Col. Scott Casey, Kennedy Wells, Kameron Wells, Cadince McGrath, John Becker, Tye Foster, Sarah Folsom, Parker Haydin; front – Kaylynn Slaughter, Caroline Martin, Sunnee Schumann, Julia Czernik, Ashton Arlington, First Sergeant Johnny Rositas.
