RHS hosts regional NJROTC field meet
By Deanna Lasley
On a rainy Saturday, Ramona High hosted their 4th annual NJROTC field meet. A total of 14 schools from all over Area 11 came to participate and hopefully lay claim to a qualifying spot in the Super Bowl of field meets at Santa Ana High School on Feb. 25.
Competing in events such as basic drill, exhibition drill and color guard, the drill teams performed superbly in the challenging weather conditions. Events also included numerous athletic events like sit-ups, pushups and relay races.
Ramona finished in fourth place out of 14 and had already qualified for the Super Bowl drill meet back in November. The top two schools at Super Bowl will qualify for the national championships in Pensacola, Fla., in March.
The planning for such a big event starts months in advance. Judges from Marine Corps Recruit Depot and University of San Diego Midshipmen and recruiters from the Poway recruiting station were all key volunteers for completing this complex event without a hitch. Schools from San Diego County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County and Orange County made the trip for the outstanding event.
Cadets started showing up to help set up around 5 that morning as well as to prepare their uniforms for the first event of the day, Personnel Inspection.
Ramona was the first school to go. As it started to rain, we formed up by the inspection pad to do our march on. The commanding officer asked Captain McNees, the head judge and inspector, permission to enter the inspection pad. After permission was granted and the march on finished, four more inspectors placed themselves at each squad and started asking questions, which included the Navy general orders, chain of command, and regulations on how cadets’ shoes should be tied.
Once finished the company marched off and continued the schedule of events, which included color guard, unarmed basic, armed basic, un-armed exhibition and armed exhibition. As one school progressed, the next school would start on the inspection pad and then carry on through the rest of the events.
The next events were sit-ups and pushups. In individual awards, five Ramona cadets placed: Spenser Jones placed seventh in male sit-ups while Jessica Buzzel placed sixth and Liz Huffman placed seventh in female sit-ups. Alec Richardson placed ninth in male pushups and Jammi Whitney placed seventh in female pushups. A total of 214 cadets participated in sit-ups and pushups, so a top 10 finish is quite an accomplishment.
Ramona finished second of 14 in sit-ups and sixth overall in pushups. The final two events were relay races. Ramona finished second in both and earned an overall finish of second in physical fitness.
Ramona High School NJROTC would like to thank all the parent volunteers who made this such a good event. We are always credited with having the most organized, efficient and top-notch chow of any field meet and that is due to our outstanding parent volunteers.
Thank you, everyone, for your outstanding support!