Carson High NJROTC places second at state, Main wins top gun cup
Submitted by Brett Fisher on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 7:29pm
Carson High School's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) Navy cadets took full advantage of home-range advantage Saturday during the Northern Nevada State Marksmanship Championships, finishing second out of the state's top six teams qualifying for this year's state finals.
CHS NJROTC cadets also took home multiple individual medals, including the competition's prestigious Top Gun Cup, which was awarded to Cadet Cody Main for finishing with the highest score in the final individual shoot-out.
Main collected a total of 634 points throughout individual competition, including a high score of 92.4 in the final round shoot-out, to claim the Top Gun title.
Main also won the individual title for standing position marksmanship, while Navy cadet teammate Robert White, a CHS senior, earned second place in the same individual category.
Navy Cadet Luis Rowell, a CHS senior, placed third in a very close kneeling marksmanship competition. The top three finishers each scored an 83, but placing came down to grading by just tenths of a point.
CHS NJROTC Cadet and Rifle Team Captain Mikaela Asby said the state finals involves shooting relay style in three different marksman positions, as well as one individual shooter.
“What we’re shooting right now is a 3-by-20, so we shoot two targets per position," Asby explained. "There are different relays for shooters, that way we spread it out and it goes into a smooth ladder."
The CHS junior, who has been shooting in the program for three years, said relay shoots are separated by competition brackets.
"We’ll have one relay and then we’ll have a ten minute break for coaches and then we’ll shoot the other relay,” she said.
The final is based upon the top eight-placing students, who participate in a shoot-off at the very end of competition for the Top Gun title, she said.
Carson High School tallied 2,116 points total as a team Saturday to take the second-place trophy behind reigning Nevada State Champion Spanish Springs High School in Sparks. Reno High School took third place out six state finalist teams.
Other team competitors at Saturday's state championship were Bishop Manogue and Hug high schools in Reno, as well as Reed High School in Sparks.
Cadet Asby said she had high hopes for her team this year because of the amount of experience the kids had.
“My hope was to just get our JV (junior varsity) team in the top three," she said. "We placed second in our JV team, so that was a good goal."
Asby said she really hoped Carson would top Spanish Springs this year, but she was also excited for Carson High to place again at state.
"Our plan this year was to beat Spanish Spring, and come back with a big bang,” she said. “Me, personally, it was an experience issue because it was the first time last year for me going to state."
