Faith Miller – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – On Sept. 15, the LRHS Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) rifle team competed at the county rifle meet at Palmetto High School, earning third place.

The rifle team is an after-school extracurricular special team offered by JROTC. It is a shooting sport that requires patience and concentration.

Rifle involves two shooting teams – the A team and the B team. Each team is organized with five members, according to precision and accuracy in marksmanship. It is a mentally challenging activity that requires intense focus.

Mustang rifle team leader senior Holden Pollock is in charge of keeping the team on track during practices. Rifle team members typically meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they put many hours in to fully prepare for each of their meets.

Pollock said, “For the first rifle meet this season we did pretty good. Even though the competition has gotten much tougher, I have high expectations for this year’s rifle meets.”

The Rifle team has competed in meets sponsored by the School District of Manatee County (SDMC) since 2008-09. They attended their first state-level rifle meet last year during the 2021-22 school year where they earned third place.

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JROTC Army Instructor MSG. William Cassidy has overseen operations for the Mustang Battalion rifle team since 2012.

Cassidy said, “I’m impressed with how the team did for their first meet. As a team they scored higher than any of our teams in previous years. We look forward to having a successful season and are we are excited to compete at states.”

Battalion operations are made available to the public through the monthly battalion newsletters. The monthly Mustang battalion newsletter can be found on the JROTC website.

Mustangs interested in participating in the rifle team and the JROTC program can contact Cassidy here or JROTC instructor Maj. Shaun O’Dea here.