Faith Miller – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – Thursday the LRHS Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) rifle A-team qualified for the state competition at the county rifle meet at Manatee High School (MHS),.

The rifle team is an after-school extracurricular program offered by the JROTC Battalion.

Rifle team member senior Liam Pham has been shooting with the team for three years. Rifle team members typically meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they put many hours in to fully prepare for their competitions.

Pham said, “We worked hard and shot our best to qualify for states, and we did, however, we have our work cut out for us. I believe in our team, and I know we will do well at states if we keep practicing together.”

The Rifle team has been competing since 2008-09. They attended their first state-level rifle meet la during the 2021-22 school year,, when they earned third place.

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

Cassidy said, “I’m pleased that the team managed to make it to states. The team is excited, and I have high hopes going into the state competition.

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“At the beginning of the year, our team shot really well, but for many reasons, we didn’t stay consistent throughout the season. We are now getting back to where we were, in terms of our shooting at the beginning of the school year, continued Cassidy.

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 Maj Shaun O’Dea here.