Faith Miller – Mustangs Ahead
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – On Friday, Oct. 7, the LRHS Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) Raiders team placed fourth at the county meet at Braden River High School (BRHS).
JROTC Raiders is a highly intensive fitness competition that involves five team events: the 5K run, the one-mile liter carry, the obstacle course, the tire flip and the rope bridge.
The female team moved up to second place at the recent competition, earning first place for the Raider Fitness Challenge (RFC), second place for the Cross Country Rescue (CCR), second place for the Tire Flip, third place for the Rope Bridge, and fifth place for the 5K team run.
The male team reached their team goal of fourth place, earning second place for the Tire Flip, second place for the Rope Bridge, fifth place for the RFC, fifth place for the CCR, and fifth place for the 5K team run.
Senior Thomas Grayam is the male team lead, while senior Karen Tinoco leads the female team.
Grayam said, “I am very proud of my team for our success in the tire flip and rope bridge events this past Friday, and I can see room for improvement on the liter and obstacle course events for our next meet.”
The Raider team has been competing in meets sponsored by the School District of Manatee County (SDMC) and the sixth Brigade for nearly two decades. Their last competition was held at Bayside Community Church, where the female team earned third place, and the male team earned fourth place.
Tinoco said, “Overall, I think we did well with the meet, especially since we kept our motivation to keep going throughout the day. We did everything we could to keep ourselves firm and we kept our sportsmanship by giving our motivation to the other schools in attendance.”
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LRHS JROTC Army Instructor Maj. Shaun O‘Dea has overseen operations for the Mustang Battalion raider team since 2021.
O’Dea said, “Both our Raider teams competed extremely well, and this first meet is an opportunity for us to assess where we need to focus our efforts to improve for the upcoming competitions. I am very excited about the potential for both teams, and I am confident they will continue to work hard to meet their goals.”
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 raider team and the JROTC program can contact LRHS JROTC Master Sgt. William Cassidy here or O’Dea here.
MUSTANGS AHEAD 