Wa-Hi JROTC Cadet Shooter Brings Home First Place From National Qualifying Match
Colorado Springs, Colo., (March 3, 2007) – The Walla Walla HIgh School shooting team captain has captured the top spot among Army JROTC shooters in a three-position match here this weekend.
Cadet Major Amber Criss, executive officer of the Wa-Hi JROTC Cadet “Blue Devils” Battalion, placed first among Army JROTC precision shooters with a winning score of 679.7, topping the nearest Army shooter by exactly eight points. She also outscored her counterparts from the Navy and Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps precision shooting teams, topping the Marines top shooter’s score of 678.0 and the Navy’s 676.1.
Criss will compete again March 11-13 in Colorado Springs at the One-Position (Offhand) Junior Olympics match, returning her to the same ranges at the Olympic Shooting Center at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
The Western Regional JROTC Three-Position Match was hosted by the Director of the U.S. Civilian Marksmanship Program.
“The CMP is proud to have conducted these regional championships,” said Gary Anderson, CMP Director. “The Eastern Regional match was held recently, and both groups are sending great shooters on to the National Finals at Fort Benning, Georgia, in just six more weeks.”
Precision and sporter teams, well over 300 cadets from all three services, fired from prone (laying down), kneeling, and offhand (standing) positions. A perfect score is 600 points, with additional points possible in the “shoot-off” round after qualifying rounds are completed. Only the top eight shooters from the Army, Navy and Marines teams advance to this round. It was in this round that Criss rose to the challenge and bested the best of the best.
After the competition was over, during remarks at the awards banquet, Barcelona 1992 Olympics silver medalist Bob Foth told participants his view that shooting sports can be a long-term activity for their futures. “I encourage all of you to pursue this as a lifetime sport. Perhaps some of you here tonight will be future Olympians returning to this training center someday.” Foth heads youth programs and coach development for “USA Shooting” and is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The Vice Chair of the CMP board of directors, Judith Legerski, commented on the cadets of the JROTC shooting programs from the three services calling them “some of the finest examples of citizenship and positive role models among our youth today.”
Team captain Criss has been such a role model through her four years of competitive shooting and has competed and placed at several high-level matches in the past. She is currently the top-ranked shooter on the Wa-Hi precision team.
The Wa-Hi cadets also have a competitive sporter team. Shooters on both precision and sporter teams use the same types high-quality precision air rifles as are used in the Olympics. These are not to be confused with the “BB guns” and “pellet rifles” often used to introduce novices to marksmanship and shooting.
The Wa-Hi JROTC shooting team is coached by retired Army Master Sgt. Gerry Taylor, a former member of the award-winning Army shooting team.
The Wa-Hi competitive shooters were:
Precision Team:
Cadet Major Amber Criss, senior
Cadet First Lieutenant Geoff Lewis, junior
Cadet Staff Sergeant Cole Smith, sophomore
Cadet Sergeant TaMaka Swartout, sophomore
Cadet Corporal Elliott Holt, freshman
Sporter Team:
Cadet First Lieutenant Cody Nordheim, junior
Cadet First Sergeant Justin Christen, junior
Cadet Sergeant Alexa Hummel, sophomore
Cadet Private Alex Hedine, junior
Cadet Private Logan Heater, freshman
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