Courtesy of Quantico MCJROTC The Quantico High School Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps captured the overall drill team competition when they traveled to Mount Vernon High School to compete in the Region One Drill Team Competition March 8 against almost 20 separate drill teams

The drill team captured the overall drill team competition when they traveled to Mount Vernon High School to compete in the Region One Drill Team Competition March 8 against almost 20 separate drill teams from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

The competition involved several categories each team was judged in. They competed in platoon with arms, platoon without arms, personnel and knowledge inspection, color guard and ‘‘knockout,” which is a drill movement competition similar to ‘‘Simon says.”

‘‘The competition was pretty tough this year, but the cadets rose to the occasion and brought home the win,” said retired Sgt. Maj. Jose L. Diaz, the JROTC Marine instructor. ‘‘Their dedication and attention to detail put them in a position to win. They put in the hard work and practice and deserved this.”

The cadets began practicing for the competition about four weeks prior each morning from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. They practiced drill cards no different than the ones performed during recruit training.

‘‘You have to give them a lot of credit to have the determination and self-discipline to wake up extra early each morning to come in and practice before school,” Diaz said. ‘‘But with practice, practice, and more practice, the end result is win, win.”

By placing first in the color guard and personnel and knowledge inspections, and third in the platoon with arms individual competitions, the cadets were able to beat out the rest of the schools as a team.

The drill team commander, 18-year-old cadet 2nd Lt. Matthew Adams not only led his team to victory but also secured the win for best overall drill team commander.

‘‘My ultimate goal was to leave taking first place,” Adams said. ‘‘I’m very excited about the win since this was my fourth and last year competing and I wanted to leave undefeated throughout my time at QHS.”

The team consists of several seniors that will be moving on next year and have put forth special effort in ensuring success at their competitions.

‘‘We’ve been doing a lot better than last year,” said cadet 1st Lt. Jerrica Castleberry. ‘‘It feels like we’re much more into it this year since it’s our last. Coming out on top is the best feeling.”

Adams may just get his wish to finish his JROTC experience undefeated. The team has successfully competed and won for several years in a row. They will be challenged again soon at a smaller drill competition being held at Herndon High School in Manassas that they won last year.

‘‘The success this team has had is all in the kids,” Diaz said. ‘‘They’re the ones that are putting the hard work in. They deserve to win. I think they’re beginning to not know what it feels like to loose.”