Weston Ranch JROTC had an impressive showing last Saturday at the Ripon JROTC Drill Competition. The Cougar Battalion won Best Overall Drill Competition and collected nine more awards before returning to the Weston Ranch campus.
Weston Ranch competed against schools from Ripon, East Union, Lathrop, Seaside, and others, in drill, marching, and color guard. In addition, each school was graded or inspected by local armed forces recruiters. Categories of inspection were armed platoon, unarmed platoon, armed exhibition, unarmed exhibition, armed color guard, and unarmed color guard.
In armed and unarmed platoon drills, cadets were asked questions about the chain of command, military regulations, and the cadet creed according to the Letter of Instruction (LOI).
C/SFC Sarai Toledo took third place in the drill-down knockout. Toledo competed against 100 cadets, where one mistake removes you from the competition until only one participant is left.
The Cougars’ armed platoon, led by C/CPT Osman Adel, won two uniform inspection trophies and correctly answered JROTC questions. The armed color guard, led by C/CPT Samantha Smith, earned a third-place award. The armed exhibition team, led by C/CPT Victor Perez, also won a trophy.
The unarmed platoon, led by C/MAJ Dayan Martinez, won two trophies, first place in regulation and inspection. The unarmed exhibition team, led by C/CPT Criselle Daquioag, took first place. The unarmed color guard, led by C/1SG Alexa Rodriguez, also took first place.
Finally, the Cougar Battalion won another trophy in the unarmed category for overall best in competition.
It was an excellent day for Weston Ranch JROTC. Hours of sacrifice and commitment paid off the Cougars as they set a new record for trophies, they won with 10, eclipsing the previous seven set a few years ago at the Rio Linda JROTC Drill Comp. Cadets practiced before school (arriving at 7:45 a.m.), during lunch, and after school. And after a month of training, the cadets made their mark and proved that hard work and dedication were worth the price.
Photos courtesy of Michael Cerezo
