Nease NJROTC dominates at Mandarin Drill Meet, qualifies for Florida-Georgia Championships

Nease Navy JROTC’s varsity drill team dominated across the board in Personnel Inspection, Academics, Drill and Athletics to take home the championship at the Mandarin High School NJROTC sanctioned drill meet on Nov. 17 in Jacksonville, marking the sixth consecutive year of the team taking home top honors.

Nease beat out 11 other NJROTC units from Northern Florida and Georgia.  

With the victory, Nease has secured its slot in the Area 12 Drill Championships in Douglas, Georgia on March 2, 2019, when it will attempt to defend its title as four-time defending Area-12 Drill champion. 

In addition to claiming the overall trophy, Nease picked up 10-of-13 first-place trophies for Personnel Inspection, Academics, Overall Athletics, Push-Ups, Sit Ups, 16x100 Relay, 8x220 Relay, Overall Drill, Armed Basic and Armed Exhibition.  

 “We’re on a mission (this year) to return to Navy Nationals,” Cadet Battalion Cmdr. Erin Sass said.  “We performed well today, but the best is hopefully yet to come.”

Several cadets took home individual medals for exceptional performance. Chris Oliver and Sass took first place in male and female push-ups; Teagen Pettit took second place in female push-ups and sit-ups; Thomas Olinger finished second in male sit-ups; and Abigail Vidler and Hayden Rowe placed third in female and male push-ups.

 “We’re in this for the long haul,” Cadet Battalion Master Chief Peyton Gustafson said. “We’ve got seven freshmen on the team this year, a fresh attitude and a no-nonsense work ethic. I expect us to be even better at our next competition.”

Nease will similarly attempt to claim its sixth title in a row at Terry Parker’s Sanctioned Drill Meet on Dec. 15.

Other top schools in the competition were Clay in second place, First Coast in third place, Coffee County in fourth place and Ridgeview in fifth place.