‘Meet our thunder’: Junior ROTC cadets drill at state championships in St. George

Written by Nick Yamashita
March 5, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Utah’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) stepped in line, drilled and marched to their “own thunder” as 10 high schools competed in the 2023 Utah State Drill Meet at the Dixie Convention Center on Saturday.

Utah Military Academy – Hill Field earned the title of 2023 Utah State Drill Meet Champs at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, March 4, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

“The state has 13 schools with JROTC programs,” Pine View JROTC Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brown said. “Three were unavailable to come, but it went extremely well for us hosting the first one in Southern Utah.”

Previously, all state JROTC drill meets were held in northern Utah. One JROTC squad traveled from Kuna, Idaho, with special permission to compete in Utah.

West High and Providence Hall High are Navy JRTOC programs, Ben Lomond High is an Army JROTC program. The rest of the competitors were from Air Force JROTC programs, Brown said.

Pine View, the tournament host, did well finishing fourth with 368.7 points out of 700 possible, while Dixie’s 382.7 points placed them third overall.

Riverton’s Utah Military Academy/Hill Field scored the most in the event with 455.1 points, while Wasatch High School from Heber took second place scoring 403.2 points. Utah Military Academy/Hill Field has taken the state title nine years in a row.

“We are ecstatic that we won state,” Utah Military Academy/Hill Field Staff Sergeant Jacob McDaniel said. “We are genuinely and happily surprised.”

The individual and team events included solo armed exhibition, duo armed exhibition, duo unarmed exhibition, color guard, armed exhibition, unarmed exhibition, armed regulation, unarmed regulation, armed inspection and unarmed inspection competitions.

In an armed drill, a rifle is used while in unarmed there are no props. Color guard has four cadets with two carrying flags and two with rifles. The inspection events are all about precision and “looking good,” as several cadets described it. There are 12 cadets on each team. The last event is the regulation, which has 14 cadets on each team and performance is judged on cadet confidence and sharp, precise movement.

The solo armed exhibition category resulted in three local cadets placing. Pine View Sophomore Diego Pacrem completed his routine with a score of 80.4 to win the event. He was followed closely by Alexander Miramontes of Dixie High with a 78.2.

The crowd was jubilant when Utah Military Academy/Camp Williams cadet Tristen Mastin, who could not hold back the excitement when he ended his routine completing a quad toss and behind-the-back catch for his first time. He tied for third-place in the competition.

Tristen Mastin of Utah Military Academy of Camp Williams tied for third in the solo armed exhibition divison at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, March 4, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

The duo armed exhibition saw Pine View JROTC take first place as the team “Super Cell” scored 97.2 points. Pine View also claimed the duo unarmed exhibition with 71.6 points by the “Color Guardians.”

Dixie JROTC claimed the state title in the color guard category for the third year in a row. They scored 92.4, with Pine View second in the event scoring a 91.2.

Both armed and unarmed exhibition events were claimed by Utah Military Academy/Hill Field. The team events were dominated by the northern schools, with exception of the unarmed regulation event. Pine View High School placed first by scoring 66.0 points.

The armed regulation was won by Wasatch High School with 63.2 points. The unarmed inspection was won by Utah Military Academy/Camp Williams with 91.0, while the armed inspection saw the overall champions, Utah Military Academy/Hill Field, claim victory with 63 points.

Individual awards included the top cadet commanders and the winners of the drill-down skills challenge.

Champions in the drill-downs were Misha Case from Providence Hall and David Shern from Utah Military Academy/Camp Williams.

In drill-downs, the cadet follows commands from a superior, but if they are not in perfect posture, stance, or movement, then they must exit the challenge. The last cadet standing wins. This year for the first time, they had live scores during the meet.

JROTC teams competed in the 2023 Utah State Drill Meet at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, March 4, 2023 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

Brown said how grateful he was for the Dixie Convention Center as “they were phenomenal” to ensure a smooth event. Brown plans on strengthening the JROTC influence in Southern Utah in the future.

“It’s fun for the kids,” Brown said. “Really, really good performances, and no doubt I will be the first one to offer to host again next year.”

For the final results of all events, click here. Final State Drill Meet Scores.

Final Results of the Overall JROTC Drill Meet by School: 1st – Utah Military Academy/Hill Field of Riverdale, 2nd – Wasatch High School of Heber, 3rd – Dixie High School of St. George, 4th Pine View High School of St. George, 5th – West High School of Salt Lake City, 6th – Ben Lomond High School of Ogden, 7th – Providence Hall High School of Herriman, 8th – Northridge High School of Layton, 9th – Utah Military Academy/Camp Williams of Lehi and 10th – Kuna High School of Kuna, Idaho.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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