The Riverhead NJROTC Drill Team finished first overall in the last Area Four Regional Drill Meet of the year Saturday.
Thirteen schools and over 500 cadets from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware competed in the meet, which took place at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
This was the last drill meet for the seniors, and they went out in style with consistently strong performances across the board. Despite missing most of the junior class due to scheduled ACT tests, the rest of the unit picked up their game and performed extremely well despite the lack of competition experience in many cases.
This effort displayed the importance of having depth on the team and cadets continuing to practice hard and making the most of their opportunity.
Top performances included:
Armed Platoon – First Place led by senior Nicholas Waldron
Athletics – First place led by senior Connor Behr
Academics – Second Place led by senior Muhammad Fareed
Air Rifle – Second Place led by junior Sam Saunders
Color Guard – Third Place led by senior Connor Behr
Personnel inspection – Fifth place led by senior Laurence Nash
Unarmed Platoon – Sixth place led by junior Julia Pizzuto who was leading this event for the first time while filling in for senior Dakota Ventresca who was unable to attend.
The strong performances across the board in all events enabled the unit to come away with the First Place Overall trophy and provided a fitting end for the seniors who have distinguished themselves on the drill team for the past four years.
These dedicated senior competitors include:
Nicholas Waldron – Drill Team and Armed Platoon Commander, Academic Team, Personal Inspection Team
Dakota Ventresca – Drill Team and Unarmed Platoon Commander, Athletic Team
Muhammad Fareed – Academic Team Commander, Squad Leader, Personal Inspection Team
Zachary Manuel – Platoon Guide, Squad Leader, Academic Team, Personal Inspection Team
Connor Behr – Color Guard Commander, Platoon Guide, Squad Leader and Athletic Team
Tyler Behr – Squad Leader, Personnel Inspection Team
Laurence Nash – Personal Inspection Team Commander
David Vogel – Armed and Unarmed Platoon member
The next big event for the unit will be the Spring Orientation trip from April 25-29, where the cadets will visit the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, the United States Naval Academy and the Civil War Battlefield at Fredericksburg, Virginia and Washington D.C.
Source: Press release issued by Riverhead Central School District dated April 12, 2016
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