Tinian High School Army JROTC Competes in PSS Army JROTC 2023 Hawkeye Archery Competition

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Story by: C/SGT Del Rosario, Sofia and C/PFC Medicielo, Julia
Photos by: C/SGT Sofia Del Rosario, and C/1SG Mary Gomez

Stallion Battalion Competes in PSS Army JROTC 2023 Hawkeye Archery Competition

On December 16, 2023, the Stallion Battalion had an opportunity to fly up to Saipan to participate in this year’s Archery Competition!

This competition is new to all of the JROTC Battalions around the CNMI.  Each school formed an archery team that competed against each other to see which school had the best individual and archery team. After days of practice, archery teams from Tinian HS, Marianas HS, Saipan Southern HS, Rota HS, and Kagman HS gathered at the MHS Gym to begin the competition.

The competition started with two teams, each shooting for 3 ends overall in the 10-meter course. After all the Cadets in a team finished, the next team from another school went out to shoot, and then when all teams were done shooting moved on to 3 ends in the 15-meter course. Each time an end/round ends, Cadets would go up to their target and note down their scores as the instructors assisted when needed. Instructors would then collect all score sheets and check the results.

After a few minutes, we had an announcement where they revealed the top 3 best individual shooters. There was a tie between THS and MHS. To break the tie, they called the two Cadets to shoot, whoever was the closest to the bullseye won, which ended with THS taking the win. From there, first place was THS C/LTC Edward Tirona, second place was MHS C/CPT Raymond Guanlao, and 3rd was THS C/CPL Dakota Sandbergan. And with that, the competition officially ended and all teams gathered to take one last group photo. A few days later, the team winners of this year’s archery competition were announced. The placements were as follows; first place Marianas HS, second place Tinian HS, third place Southern HS, fourth place Rota HS, and fifth place Kagman HS.

This year’s competition was new and exciting to many Cadets, and from that, we asked a few Cadets questions about their experiences with this competition.

“My overall experience for this year’s competition was great!  This was the first time all CNMI battalions were able to get together and compete against each other. Since this was a first, we can use it as a learning experience to help future competitions run smoothly with no difficulties,” said C/LTC Edward Tirona. “I enjoyed and I am proud of myself and Cadet Dakota Sandbergen for making it to the top 3 shooters overall. I would join again if I ever had the chance to. I love being around the rest of the team members and using the bow and arrow is very fun. Congratulations to all other shooters and school teams as well!”

“Most of the experiences I had before the competition were the practices every day, with the team, and having a good time. Improving in shooting for archery was on our minds, however, having fun with one another was a priority to us as well,” said C/CPL Geremy Santos. “I thought that this archery trip was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on for school-related purposes. Many experiences and memories were made during the trip, and, if I could, I would relive it all over again.”

“My overall experience for this year’s archery competition was very good! I never thought I would have enjoyed it this much if I never took the chance to. I’ve also had a very good experience preparing for this competition, I was excited and I enjoyed archery,” said C/CPL Dakota Sandbergan. “We practiced every weekday after school and I was so happy to see progress and improvement! When it finally got to the time of the competition, I did well and placed third!”

This competition overall was an amazing experience for all Cadets that have participated throughout all CNMI JROTC. We’d like to thank all the instructors who have made this possible and took the time and effort to stay back during school days for each team to practice and hope for next year’s competition to be just as fun!