JROTC shooting team captain wins National event

Wa-Hi JROTC shooting team captain wins overall first place, sets two new Army records at all-services national finals meet in Georgia

A Walla Walla High School senior was on target and in the bullseye to win the National JROTC Individual Precision Air Rifle Championship last weekend at Fort Benning, Georgia. She just also happened to set two new Army JROTC records along the way.

Cadet Major Amber Criss, serves as executive officer (or "Number Two Person" in the leadership structure) of the Wa-Hi Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps "Blue Devils" Cadet Battalion. Shes also the shooting team captain. She competed in the two-day event that brought together the top 66 precision shooters, and more than 60 sporter shooters, from Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine JROTC units in the United States and from overseas schools for military families.

Criss led the field of precision shooters yesterday by 4.0 points with a score of 690.1, At the end of the finals round today, she won with a final combined total score of 1273.7, edging out the next nearest competitors 1273.15, from a Navy JROTC team, winning by a margin of 0.55 points.

"Im so excited and proud to have done my best," said Criss. "Ive been shooting against this same guy for three years and weve always been friendly rivals. It was great to compete against so many great shooters from all over and to be able to live up to my coachs confidence in me!"

This National Finals event for JROTC shooters from all services was hosted by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Georgia. The National Finals were sponsored by the Director of the U.S. Civilian Marksmanship Program, Gary Anderson. He heads up that program from offices in Port Townshend, Ohio. The Western Regional Championships that led to this event at Fort Benning were held in March at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Eastern Regional Championships were held in February at Fort Benning. The two events were qualifying rounds for the National finals.

Ambers other achievements during the weekend came when she set two new Army JROTC records for precision air rifle. She bested the old record of 192.0 points for the offhand (also called "standing") position with her score of 195.0 points. She also set a new record of 589.0 for the three-position event, in which shooters fire offhand, kneeling and prone (laying flat), besting the old record of 587.0.

She gave a lot of credit to her coach, for helping her develop her talent and for giving her the confidence and support to bring out her very best.

Wa-Hi JROTC advisor and shooting team coach, retired Army Master Sgt. Gerry Taylor said coaching an athlete to this level of achievement demands intensive training and hard work to bring out the best in everyone. When asked if coaching a shooter with talent like Crisss might be comparable to coaching an MVP athlete in any other sport, Taylor remained modest about his own role but noted his feeling of pride in Amber and other Wa-Hi shooters hed coached in the past.

"It wasnt me, this was Ambers willingness to work hard, train hard, practice constantly and shoot consistently, and she developed her confidence to shoot to the highest level of her potential," Taylor said. "Im so proud of her for all shes done during her time on our shooting team. Ive never had a doubt about her talent. But, I can tell you that competing at this level is very demanding and exhausting, for shooters and coaches alike! For her and the other shooters, its certainly stressful, and Id know because this head-to-head battle for first place seemed just about enough to give me a heart attack. Amber is the best precision shooter Ive ever coached, and Ive had some great shooters in years past at Wa-Hi, too. Some of them may have had the potential to go this far, I just wish wed been able to take them the places were able to take our cadets these days

There wont be any resting on laurels for Criss and Taylor when they return to Walla Walla and go back to school Monday (April 16). They and the other Wa-Hi cadets will be preparing to host and compete in the Northwest Conference Drill and Marksmanship Championships next Saturday. The Blue Devils from Wa-Hi are among the Army, Navy Air Force and Marine Corps JROTC programs from the 14 schools in the Cascade Division of the 32-school Northwest Conference.

The Blue Devils Battalion will host the all-day event April 21. It is open to the public and there is no admission charge.