Walla Walla High School’s JROTC Rifle Teams traveled to Sandy, Utah, last week to compete in the Army JROTC Western Regional Rifle Championship. Eighty-six of the top qualifying Army JROTC high school marksmen from across the northern region of the United States gathered at the Mountain America Expo Center for the two-day competition.
The Utah match was the first of three regional championships that pit the top Army JROTC shooters against one another for honors and an invitation to the All-Service JROTC National Championship in March. More than 450 high school JROTC programs compete in local qualifying matches to earn an invitation to the event. The Walla Walla team, captained this year by Cadet Captain Evelyn Wolf, received invitations in both the precision and sporter rifle classes.
The Sporter Team included Cadet Captains Jaycee Cox and Melissa Villegas, Cadet Lieutenant Wyatt Postlewait, Cadet Command Sergeant Major Noah Kaheaku, and Cadet Sergeant Noah Hein. Serving on the Precision Team were Wolf, Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Sofie Edwards, Cadet Major Claire Calvert, Cadet First Sergeant Marcus Goin, and Cadet Staff Sergeant Peytin Munns.
The match consisted of two days of Olympic-style air rifle shooting, with competitors firing 20 record shots in each of three positions: kneeling, prone, and standing. Each shot is worth a maximum of 10 points, with shooters posting a possible daily score of 600.
The Blue Devil Sporter Team posted a total score of 2,086 on Day 1, led by Kaheaku with a 530, followed by Villegas at 529, Cox at 527, Hein at 516, and Postlewait at 513. Their team score placed them fourth overall at the conclusion of the first day of competition.
The Precision Team finished Day 1 with a team total of 2,262, placing them second overall behind Fountain High School of Fort Carson, Colorado. Calvert led Walla Walla with a top score of 585, highlighted by two standing-position targets scored at 98. Edwards posted a 573 on the first day, while sophomore precision shooter Munns surprised the team with the next-highest score of 560, including a 99 in the kneeling position.
“I made up my mind today that I was going to trust my instincts and enjoy myself,” said Calvert on Friday. “I knew I had to make up some ground after a lower kneeling score than I wanted, and I felt I could count on my standing position.”
At the end of the first day, Calvert held second place individually in the precision class.
On the second day of competition, the Sporter Team improved its performance with a score of 2,102, moving up to second place overall. Hein led the team with a 536, followed closely by Villegas at 531, Kaheaku at 529, Cox at 525, and Postlewait at 512.
In the precision class, the Blue Devils posted a slightly lower team score of 2,256 on Day 2, dropping to third place overall. Calvert again led the precision squad with a 583, bolstered by another strong standing performance that included a 99 on her first target and a 97 on her second. Her efforts resulted in a career-high two-day total of 1,168, placing her second overall heading into the final match. Munns continued to impress, setting a new personal record with a score of 562 on Saturday.
The championship concluded with a final match on Saturday afternoon. In the final, the eight shooters with the highest two-day totals competed in a series of timed sets, firing 15 shots each in kneeling and prone, followed by 10 shots in standing. The match then shifted to a shot-for-shot standing-position elimination, with the lowest score on each round eliminated until one shooter remained.
In the precision final, Calvert struggled in her initial kneeling set, dropping to seventh place before moving to prone. She held her position through prone, knowing standing was her strongest event. As the elimination rounds began, she climbed into a tie for third place, but a score of 8 on her fourth elimination shot ended her run in fifth place.
“This is the match I’ve been trying to have all year,” said Calvert of her two-day performance. “It was great to have everything come together here.”
In the sporter class final, two Blue Devils—Villegas and Kaheaku—earned spots among the top eight competitors. Villegas opened with a challenging first kneeling set, dropping to sixth place, while Kaheaku finished the first timed set in third, a position he would hold for much of the final. During Villegas’s second kneeling set, she fired four near-perfect center X tens, vaulting from sixth to first place.
For the next 30 minutes, the eight sporter shooters battled in a closely contested final, with Villegas widening her lead as the competition evolved into a head-to-head duel with Zachary Schlundt of Lebanon High School in Oregon. In the standing timed set, Schlundt overtook Villegas and maintained the lead through the final elimination shot, winning the Western Regional Championship by 2.3 points. Villegas earned the silver medal, while Kaheaku captured the bronze.
The Blue Devils returned home this week to prepare for their next competition in Hermiston, Oregon, later this month, while awaiting team and individual selections for the All-Service JROTC National Championship at Camp Perry in March.
