MANCHESTER, N.H. – This week, the Manchester West High School Navy JROTC marksmanship team from will travel to Anniston, Ala., to take part in the National JROTC Service Championships.
West’s four-member team, which includes team captain Ella Hanson, Michael Cleveland, Favour Ben-Okafour and Saige Santos, finished strongly in the qualifying competition, earning the invite to nationals.
The trip to the national NJROTC competition comes on the heels of the team’s victory in a separate statewide competition last week, with Cleveland placing first overall.
“It is a huge accomplishment for us as this is the first time that we have been invited to compete at the national level,” Hanson said. “It is also extra exciting for me because as team captain I get the opportunity to lead my team through this. We got to this point because of all the hard work everyone on the team has put in.”
To qualify for the national marksmanship competition, West’s cadets took part in what’s known as a “postal competition,” in which the team competes at its home range and mails out the results. In all, 6,000 cadets from all JROTC branches took part in this year’s postal competition.
The team departs mid-week, with the competition taking place Thursday through Saturday.
“This is a great honor for these cadets and it’s very well-deserved,” said Capt. Arthur Stauff, the Senior Naval Science Instructor at West. “The team has worked hard to get to this level, and we’ve been very busy making arrangements for the trip. Fortunately, the cost of the trip is completely covered by the Navy.”
“The entire West community is very proud of the team,” said West Principal Richard Dichard. “It’s not every day we are able to send students to a national competition, and this feels especially sweet given how much has been shut down over the past two years. We’ll be cheering on Ella, Michael, Favour and Saige as they compete this week.”
Top teams from the competition in Anniston will head to Camp Perry, OH from March 17 to 19 for the JROTC National Championship, with teams from all the military service JROTC divisions competing jointly.
West’s NJROTC unit marked its 50th anniversary last year. Since it’s the only such program among the school district’s four high schools, students from any part of town can attend West to participate in the program. The unit consists of several teams, including marksmanship, academic, armed drill, physical fitness, drill and color guard. Cadets are active in the community, providing color guards and performing drill routines, while also volunteering their time at events such as parades, road races and cleanups.
More information on the unit can be found here.
