Cascade Mountain League JROTC Two-State Championship Rifle Match
Walla Walla High School’s JROTC Precision Rifle Team captured the JROTC Cascade Mountain League Two-State Championship the weekend of March 7-9 in a rifle match hosted at Walla Walla High School.
Over 75 competitive JROTC high school marksmen representing 12 rifle teams from Washington and Oregon converged on the WaHi rifle range to compete in the championship match of the 2024/25 JROTC season.
In the sporter class, the team championship went to Lebanon High School from Oregon, with Walla Walla coming in second place, shooting a 2054 out of 2400, 65 points ahead of University High School’s JROTC team from Spokane Valley. The team was led by Cadet Captain Saphira Rynaski, who fired a score of 523 out of 600 points for the team’s top sporter class score, followed closely by teammates Cadet First Sergeant Melissa Villegas at 521, Cadet Corporal Jaycee Cox with a 516, and Cadet Staff Sergeant Wyatt Postlewait at a 515. Freshman Cadet Corporal Jesse Vawter turned a 50,9 and Cadet Major Claire Wooster finished on a 500.
“I don’t think I have ever had this many sporter shooters with season averages over 500,” Said WaHi Rifle Team Coach Mark Mebes on Saturday. “They are having a great season.”
The Blue Devil Precision squad shot a 2240 to clinch the league championship over the precision team from Redmond, Oregon, with the team from Salem, Oregon claiming 3rd. In the team match, Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Hannah Goin’s score of 581 led the team for the day, tied by teammate Cadet Lieutenant Claire Calvert’s 581, followed closely by Cadet Captain Evan Graham with a 580 and Cadet Lieutenant Sofie Edwards with a 566. WaHi’s performance marks their 15th consecutive Cascade Mountain League title since 2010.
Following the regulation course of fire, the top 8 individuals in the match were called back to the range at the end of the day for a Championship Final match. In a “Final”, the top 8 marksman battle it out for individual placement and honors for the season in a 10-shot match, fired from the standing position. Although “Final” scores are not added to a team’s total, they are added to the score of individuals to determine final placement for medals. With only a single point separating places first through third, the precision final was a highly anticipated and well-attended event, with over 100 spectators packing WaHi’s auxiliary gym to watch and cheer.
In the Precision Class Final, Blue Devil marksmen occupied 6 of the top 8 positions for the 10-shot competition, with Goin, Calvert, Graham, Edwards, and Cadet Captain Bel Dalan and Cadet Lieutenant Evelyn Wolf all occupying places to defend. After 10 rounds of extremely competitive play, Calvert fired the highest score in the final at 100.7, securing the gold medal position ahead of Goin’s 98.1 and Graham’s 94.9. The Blue Devils swept the top 6 places in the precision match.
With this match marking the end of local competitions for the year, the Blue Devil Rifle Team will now return to training focused on upcoming national and regional championships in Alabama, Utah, and Ohio.
