The summer break has been anything but time off for members of North High School’s JROTC marksmanship team as they have been travelling the country and earning honors.

Recently the team was at Camp Perry, Ohio for both the National Junior Olympics shooting championship and the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National Championships.

Qualifying matches for the Junior Olympics were held at the state level, and the North shooters punched their ticket to the national tournament by winning a 14th straight State Championship. At the national competition, the North squad shot a 2171 to finish in 5th place. Kevin Nguyen led the way with a 557 and an individual 7th place finish as fellow Polar Bear Sydney Krejci placed 15th overall. Other team members were Arturo Zaragoza and Ayden Wells.

The very next day it was time for the CMP championship. Qualifying began early this year, and North earned their spot with a 3rd place finish at the regional tournament in April in Salt Lake City. North shot a 2197-77 to end in a tie for 2nd with Volunteer High School from Tennessee but lost on the tiebreaker 2197-84 to end up as the 3rd place team. Kevin Nguyen shot a 556 to continue his podium appearances by finishing number 8th overall for the championship, with Sydney Krejci , Arturo Zaragoza and Ayden Wells rounding out the team.

But that’s not all for the North JROTC squad this summer. Today it’s off to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Fifteen high school marksmen from across the country qualified for the American Legion National Championships. Four of those are from North High School!

The team is coached by Gunnery Sergeant Mike Gettler, the Marine JROTC instructor at North.